A Rescue with Flare
by Atemsciv
Summary: An Amourshipping story describing the groups first encounter with Team Flare. Serena ends up in extreme danger and its up to Ash to try and save her, all while trying to sort out his feelings for her along the way..Rated T for minor suggestive theme and to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Writers Note: Hey guys this is my first FanFiction. A few people encouraged me to give it a shot so I figured I'd finally go for it. Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated. That being said I hope guys enjoy A rescue with "Flare"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit. **

A rescue with "flare"

Chapter 1 "Figuring out us"

It was late into the afternoon when the group of friends began to finally see the lights of the approaching town begin to flicker on signalling another day was drawing to a close. "Finally Starview Town!" a young woman yelled out in joy as the group approached. She was quite lovely for her age of 14. She had short honey-blonde hair that just about reached down to her shoulders. She wore a red sleeveless jacket with a light pink dress underneath and black socks that went up past her knees, with brown boots on her feet. On top she wore a pink fedora with a black ribbon. Completing her outfit out was a blue ribbon around her neck, purposely positioned just over her heart. Her name was Serena.

"Wow Serena you sure are in a hurry and in a rush.." panted a young man who was desperately trying to keep up with the group. He wore glasses as well as a blue and yellow jumpsuit, and sported a backpack that carried so many different parts and tools for the inventions he loved to create. He had blonde hair that led up to what appeared to be a lightning bolt at the top of his head. He was known as Clemont, the electric type leader of the Luminose City gym. The 13 year old was traveling with the group to gain strength, confidence, and ultimately become a better gym leader.

"Come on Clemont your always falling behind!" shouted a young voice up ahead near Serena. It was his younger sister also blonde haired like him, she wore a brown top with a fluffy white dress at the bottom with black shorts underneath. She wore white shoes and carried a small yellow pouch with her. The little girl was named Bonnie. The 7 year old was just about the exact opposite of her big brother. Energetic, excited, and full of life. Not that Clemont wasn't full of life himself, he just didn't show it most of the time. "De-ne-ne" a small mouse popped out of the pouch Bonnie was wearing and smiled at Clemont. Dedenne was a small electric type that Bonnie was taking care of until she reached the age of 10 when she could become its "official" trainer. As the two began to bicker in a way that only siblings could, Serena noticed that the "leader" and other member of their group was surprisingly silent.

"Ash?" she said quietly, almost unsure if he had even heard her. Ash was a 14 year old pokemon trainer who has been traveling the world with the ultimate goal of becoming a pokemon master. He wore a short sleeved blue jacket with white stripes, black cargo pants, and red, blue, and black sneakers. Finally he wore a red and white baseball cap with pokeball symbol on the front. Perched on his shoulder was a small yellow mouse that rarely left that spot. It was his partner and best friend Pikachu. To say those two were close would be the understatement of the year. Those two were so close that some people they battled in the past would think they could read each others minds. "Pika-pi?" the rodent said when it saw its trainer's silence as well. Ash turned towards Serena as if he was gonna reply, but no words left his mouth. He just stood there looking at Serena, almost as if he was taking in her appearance for the very first time.

To most this would have been quite uncomfortable, but not for Serena. No she was loving every second of it. The thing of it was, Serena had feelings for a very long time. Ever since he first came into her life when they were the same age as Bonnie, she had a crush on him. She found herself lost, alone, and hurt in the middle of a forest when Ash came riding in on a white horse to save her-at least that's she pictured it in her mind. They ended up going their separate ways for about seven years before he rode back into her life again, albeit indirectly. She saw him on TV and made it her mission to track him down and be reunited with him. By doing so he was able to "save" her from a miserable life in her mind as a Rhyhorn racer. Being a racer was her mother's passion, and she wanted nothing to do with it. After she reunited with him, he opened up a whole new world for her with dreams she didn't even know she had. She now dreamed of being a pokemon performer, dazzling crowds with displays of beauty, power, and perfection with her pokemon along side her. Of course the person she hoped to dazzle more than anyone was Ash, she was just worried that he may never return the feelings she held for him. Ash was quite dense at times when it came to romance, but lately things had been different between them. Sometimes he would compliment her out of nowhere, he would open doors for her, or even hold her and to across or through dangerous obstacles. Most of all lately she would catch him staring at her. It gave a glimmer of hope that maybe he was starting to notice her, after all they both almost 15 years old now. She prayed sooner or later a light would go on and he would start to notice her "in that way" and to her delight it seemed her prayers we're starting to be answered.

But even for Serena this current situation was a new one. Sure she had caught him staring at her a few times before, but he always tried to be subtle about it or play it off. But this was anything but subtle, he was flat out staring at her and wasn't even trying to hide it. As much she was enjoying it, Serena decided that she'd better bring him out of his current trance. "Ash are you ok?" she said sweetly as she waved a hand in front of his face. "Huh?..Oh!" he said as he finally regained his senses and chuckled, a small blush on his face. "Sorry Serena" he smiled "I guess I kinda spaced out there." Serena blushed too and decided to tease him a little. "Well I hope whatever you were thinking was good" she said with a giggle. "Yeah it was" he replied warmly as he right at her, which only made Serena blush more. _**"**__He wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he's thinking about me" _she smiled in her head. She was quickly trying to compose herself, she would have died of embarrassment if she melted right there in front of Ash. To her luck, Bonnie unknowingly stepped in and changed the subject.

"Serena you never said why you're so excited to be here" "ne-ne" Dedenne chimmed in. "Well you see Bonnie" she said as she began to regain her composure "Starview town is quite famous for its cute little boutiques and shops." "Even Diantha has been known to order dresses from the shops her to use in some of her movies." she explained. "Oh wow Diantha shops here?!" Bonnie squealed "This town is famous!" joy flowing from the seven year old at the prospect of Diantha being mentioned. "Also this town is named because they say there is no place like this in all of Kalos where you can the stars in the night sky so clearly" Clemont added. "This seems like a great place to test out my latest invention!" he boasted. He preceded to push his glasses up his and they gave a unique shine. "The future is now thanks to science!" he yelled. "Behold my latest invention, The seeing-stars-in-the-sky machine!" he proudly stood next to his newest feat. "Geez Clemont they already have that, its a called a telescope..." Bonnie replied back. "Ne-ne-ne" Dedenne chuckled as well. _**"**__Hmph"_ Clemont pouted. "Well you'll see when I use it that it will be way better than any old telescope!" he spat back as he placed the device back into his backpack.

Serena chuckled at the siblings antics, but then turned to Ash and a cute thought entered her mind. _**"**__It would be so romantic to watch the stars with him tonight" _she gushed while picturing the two of them cuddled together watching the night sky. This time is was Ash who caught Serena staring at him, and decided to playfully return her earlier favor to him. The difference was Ash decided to take things farther as placed his hand on her cheek. "Serena, you ok?" he said warmly. When she finally came around she noticed his hand touching her face and blushed as red as Ash's hat. "Y-yeah" she stammered as he removed his hand from her face. Serena was reeling right now, sure she sensed that her and Ash were getting a lot closer but he'd never touched her in such a sensitive way before. "Well I hope whatever you we're thinking about was good." he teased some more with a big grin on his face. Serena finally composed herself again, _**"**__well if he's getting bolder now, so can I" _she thought devilishly. "I thinking about something good-involving you" she said with a smile. "I guess you'll find out later" she winked at him and preceded to continue walking with Bonnie, Clemont close behind the two.

Ash on the other hand stood there frozen blushing. "Pika?" Pikachu questioned him as it saw the others walking away. "Huh..oh sorry buddy" as he began walking a little behind the other three. "Pikapi-Pikachu?" it asked Ash as they walked. Ash sighed "I don't know buddy things have been different between Serena and I lately." "Pika?" the mouse responded. "No-no!" he quickly stammered back. "Not a bad different, a good different...I think" he added at the end. "Pikapi-Pikachu-Pi" Pikachu countered. "what do I feel when I think about her?" he asked. "Well when we first started traveling together I remembered how nice she was, oh yeah and she makes great sweets too!" Ash said. "Pi-Pikachu-Pi-Pi!" pikachu scolded. "Oh you mean my feelings.." he trailed. "Pi" the yellow mouse nodded. "well lately I've been noticing I get really warm inside when I'm with her" he started. "I started noticing how pretty her eyes are or how beautiful her hair looks when it blows in the wind" Pikachu smiled as it knew what this meant and was enjoying hearing his trainer spill this out even if didn't understand it yet. "And how great those socks look on her legs.." "PIKA-PI!" the rodent exclaimed, its eyes as big as gumballs and a huge blush on its face. "Oh s-sorry buddy, guess I got carried away.." Pikachu sighed and tried to compose itself. They may have been best friends and almost brothers, but somethings still needed to be kept to one's self. Ash could see that Pikachu got the picture. " Don't worry buddy" he said as he looked ahead to Serena. "I'm gonna figure out what's happening between us" he smiled and petted his partner on the head. "Chu" the mouse cooed as they caught up to Serena and the others.


	2. Chapter 2 Dropped keys and Promises

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit. **

Chapter 2

"Dropped keys and promises"

It was about quarter to six when the group finally entered the gates of Starview Town. "Wow that path took alot longer than I thought it would" panted Clemont. Normally at this point he would expect his younger sibling to insult him for being a baby, but to his surprise even his energetic sister looked run down from the journey. "It seemed so close when we first saw it..." Bonnie signed. "You said it" Serena also said panting slightly. The only member of the group not affected by the long walk was Ash. The thousands of miles he'd logged in his previous journeys had his body in top shape and more than used to walks of this length by now. "Let's go get some rooms at the pokemon center" he smiled as he noticed the tired looks on his friends faces. _"I gotta be a little more considerate to them" _he thought to himself. _"It's easy to forget that they aren't used to this kind of travel yet." _

The group began to walk down the sidewalk towards the pokemon center. As they passed a couple of the botiques the sight of the clothes on display seemed to give Serena a sudden burst of energy. "So cute!" she exclaimed as she stared at the various dresses on display in the window. Unfortunately she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking and tripped on a small decorative plant on the sidewalk. She tried to catch herself, even going so far as to attempt a small twirl to regain her balance and keep from falling. The efforts were all in vain, she was on a painful and embarassing trip to the concrete. She closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable pain to befall her, but it never came. In fact the ground itself never came, it was like time had stopped and she was suspended in mid air. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up saw why.

Even though she wasn't paying attention, a certain raven-haired trainer was. He saw Serena stumble on the plant and was able to catch her on the way down before she hit the ground. He now stood there holding her in his arms, her head was resting on his shoulder and her legs draped over his other arm. He breathed as sigh of relief and looked down and smiled as she finally opened her eyes and looked back up at him, amazed that he was able to catch her so fast. "You ok Serena?" he asked as he looked down to her now blushing face. "Y-Yeah..." she managed to squeak out before also managing to stammer out "t-thanks Ash." She was fighting the uncontrollable urge to lean up and kiss him on the cheek to thank him for saving her, but before she could Ash spoke to her again. "Just be a little more careful ok?" he said softly as held her in his arms for what seemed like hours, taking in every bit he could of her in that moment. _"She smells really nice" _he thought as the scent of flowers filled him.

The moment finally ended as Bonnie came running up to the two with a huge smile on her face and sparkles in her eyes. "Wow Ash!" she exclaimed "how'd you do that? That was so fast!" she praised him. Ash chuckled as gently set Serena back on her feet, but lingered a little bit before finally removing his other hand from the small of her back- an action that didn't go unnoticed by Serena. "Heh-heh I guess all that ninja training with Frogadier really payed off" he said as he looked over to see Serena still blushing at him. "C-Come on let's get to the pokemon center!" he stammered and dashed away, embarassed by all the praise that Bonnie was pouring on him. Clemont caught up with him while Bonnie stood there and looked at Serena with a mischievous smile on her face. "w-what is it Bonnie?" Serena stammered, knowing what was most likely gonna come from the seven-year old next. "You know what" she said devilishly "Your knight in shining armor came to your rescue again, and you were loving every minute of it" she teased. "Are you saying I fell on purpose?!" Serena snapped back, hoping to end the conversation before Bonnie got going again. "No I think you tripped on accident" she said unfazed by Serena. "But after Ash caught you I saw the look you were giving him as he held you" she squealed. "If you had it your way, you would still be in his arms as he carried you the pokemon center!" Bonnie yelled with stars in her eyes as she pictured her two best friends as a couple. Serena just sighed "alright you win" she said with a defeated tone. " I was content in his strong arms, can we please drop it now Bonnie?" hoping that telling her what should wanted to hear would finally put an end to the conversation. "Serena.." Bonnie Said sadly, realizing she had upset her best friend. _"Maybe Clemont is right.." _she thought sadly. _"Maybe they do have to figure it out on their own." _She quickly perked up and grabbed Serena's hand with a look of "I'm sorry" on her face, to which Serena returned her smiled and the ran to catch up to the boys as they entered the pokemon center.

As the group looked around they noticed that although it was quite a cute pokemon center, it wasn't a very big one. _"I hope we can get rooms" _Ash thought as they approached the desk. "Welcome to the Starview Pokemon Center!" exclaimed Nurse Joy with a smile on her face. "How can help you all?" "We're looking for a room for the four of us" Clemont said politely. "I'm sorry" Nurse Joy responded with a sad smile on her face. "I'm afraid we don't have any room of that size here" she said as she looked around the center to help convey why. "As you can see this is not a very large pokemon center, most of the people who come here are normally just shoppers" she said. "We don't get many trainers very often so we only have a few smaller rooms" she added. "Does that mean your out of rooms?" Clemont asked worriedly. "Lemme see what I have" Nurse Joy said as she checked the computer. "Your in luck!" she said. "I have two rooms available, one is a deluxe with two beds" she explained. "The other is our royal suite which features one large bed made of the finest materials and furnishings in Kalos!" she exclaimed. "It's really beautiful if I do say so myself" she bragged. "Oh-oh-oh!" jumped Bonnie. " I wanna stay in there so bad, please big brother?" she begged "Ne-ne!" seemed to join in begging Clemont as well. The gym leader to see both Ash and Serena give a nod and smile as if to say it was fine. "Alright-Alright" he said while scratching the back of his head with a smile. "We can take that room.." he said to her. "Yay-yay!" Bonnie shouted and began jumping around with Dedenne celebrating. Nurse Joy chuckled and handed Clemont the keys to both of the suites, one for the royal and one for the deluxe suites respectively. " You two sure your ok with this?" he asked. "Ash, Pikachu and I will just fine right?" as she turned to Ash, already looking forward to some alone time with him later that evening. Ash smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Serena's right, we'll have a great time!" he said. "Pika!" Pikachu smiled also showing its agreement with the two. "Alright then" Clemont said as started walking over to Ash to him his key. While he was walking Bonnie and Dedenne crashed into him causing him to drop the keys to the floor. "Oops..sorry big brother" said said as she helped him back to his feet. "Its alright no harm done, just watch where your bouncing Bonnie" he chuckled as he scooped the keys back up and handed one to Ash. Unbeknownst to him he had accidently given Ash the key to the royal suite...

"So who's hungry?" Clemont asked as he took a seat in a nearby booth. "I think I'm gonna do some training before I eat" Ash said, drawing surprise from everyone. Normally Ash was the first one to suggest eating, but they shrugged it off thinking he wanted to give his pokemon some exercise since they had been cooped up in their pokeballs all day. "Ok thats sounds good Ash, I'll do some tinkering here until we eat" Clemont said as he setup his backpack and be pulling out various tools from it. "What about you Serena?" he asked in between grabbing tools. "I think I wanna go browse the shops!" she exclaimed at the prospect of getting some cute new outfits. "Wanna come with me Bonnie?" she asked hoping some girl time would be fun for the two of them. "Um actually Serena, I'm not really feeling up to shopping right now. I just kinda wanna play with Dedenne sorry" she said sadly, worried she may have upset her unoffical big sister. "It's ok Bonnie" she said cheerfully surprising the small girl. "You go have fun ok?" "Thanks Serena" Bonnie said as she hugged her, before walking over to Clemont. "Hey Clemont can Chespin come play with us?" she said hopefully. "Sure Bonnie that sounds like a great idea" he said as pulled a pokeball from his pocket releasing Chespin. "Chespin-Ches!" it shouted as Bonnie ran up and hugged it. "Now you three have fun and behave" as the three ran off and began playing. Serena meanwhile had given her pokemon to Nurse Joy for treatment and was walking back over to the booth as Ash was getting up to go outside. "I guess I'll go shopping by myself" she said immediately drawing a look from Ash. "Serena its going on seven o' clock and already dark out, are you sure you wanna go by yourself?" he said a look of worry on his face. "I promise I'll take you first thing tomorrow morning when we wake up" he added hoping she would agree. The idea of her going out after dark by herself, especially without Fennekin or Pancham really worried him, even though he hated talking to her like she was his daughter. _"He's so sweet" _she smiled in her head. _"Going so far as to even promise to take me shopping." _

As tempting as it was for her to take his offer, the excitement of the shops calling her was just too much to resist. "But Ash you hate shopping" she giggled. "Y-yeah but" before he could he could finish his sentence, Serena jumped in. "Don't worry Ash I'll be fine, I'm only going price shopping" she stated. "The real shopping won't be until tomorrow" she winked at him, hoping that would do the trick, but Ash still wasn't comforted by her words. "If you really wanna go that bad I'll take you now" he said with a genuine smile as he reached for his backpack. _"He's so selfless" _she gushed to herself but quickly stopped him. "Ash you already said you wanted to go train, I'll be fine I promise its just shopping" she said sweetly as she walked up to him and gave him a hug, trying to reassure him. "By the time your done training I'll already be back here waiting to have dinner with you" she whispered into his ear. "Alright..." he said with a defeated smile. "Just promise me you'll be safe" he added they broke the hug. "I promise" she said with smile and a small wave as she turned from him to walk out the front of the pokemon center. The scent of flowers once again filled him as watched her leave, giving her small wave as she walked out the front door of the pokemon center. He finally snapped out of the scent and turned to Pikachu. "Ready to rock buddy?" he asked the yellow mouse. "Pika!" the rodent cheered as the two made their out the back door of the pokemon center to the practice battlefield.

Serena walked down the sidewalk, entracned by the items in the shops windows. From the opposite side of the street, a man in a green uniform spotted her walking. "She's perfect" he mumbled to himself...


	3. Chapter 3 We're here to help you?

**Writer's Note: Hey appreciate the all the follows and favorites, I'm gonna do my keep the chapters coming as fast as I can, this has been really fun for me so far. I promise the story is really gonna start picking up here now. Anyways enjoy the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 3

"We're here to help you?"

"Ooooh.." Serena sighed at the handbags on display in the botiques' window. The shopping strip was even better than she had dreamed. Hats, shoes, jewelry, accessories, you name it, the strip had them all. And the best best part for Serena was even though it was well past seven o' clock, all of the shops we're still open. "I was hoping to just be able to window, but this is even better!" she said to herself as she entered another store. She was truly like a child in a candy store, trying on all the various hats that particular store was selling.

Unbeknownst to her, she was being carefully watch from a distance. A man was following her every move being careful not to be spotted or draw attention to himself. He wore a green uniform with a large logo of a Far'Fetched on the back of it. The few people he passed on the strip payed him no mind, they figured he was simply waiting for his next job.

As Serena walked into another shop, the man took the opportunity to quickly jump into a phone booth. He quickly dialed the phone while he made sure to keep one eye on Serena while the phone was ringing..."What is it?" a voice muttered quietly on the other end. "You know whats gonna happen if anyone is tapping this line?!" the voice scampered, clearly wanting to end the conversation as quickly as possible. "Relax, I'm on a pay-phone we're good" the man in the green uniform assured. "Alright fine but make it quick, what do you want?" the voice demanded. "I found a cute young woman on the shopping strip right now" he said. "She looks like a perfect fit for our leader's plans" the man boasted. "Care what you say on here!" the voice barked back, still worried the line might be tapped. "Are you certain she shows potential?" the voice finally continued after a brief pause. "Quite certain.." the man said with a dark smile. "Get your supplies and come to the strip now, I'm not sure when I'm gonna have to make my move" the man explained as he peered into the shop to see Serena still trying on various pairs of shoes. "We're only gonna have one shot, be ready.." he whispered. "I'll be there shortly" the voice said before a click was heard, ending the call. _"Soon enough" _the though as he looked at Serena. _"You'll be saved."_

It was about eight thirty as Serena made it to the far end of the strip. There at the very end of the shopping strip was a small shop that many would consider small and out of place compared to the other shops on the strip, but Serena was looking forward to visiting this shop the most of all. _"Finally" _she squealed to herself and walked full of joy into the shop. She stood in awe as she saw hundreds of dresses on display through the shop. This small shop was famous throughout Kalos-moviestars, models, pokemon performers, monarchy, all bought the dresses this shop made. Serena began picking up dresses and walking over to the mirror in the store trying to see what she may look like in them. After looking at a few that she found "cute" but didn't suit her, she sighed to herself. _"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be" _she frowned. Not to be deterred Serena resumed grabbing dresses and walked over to the mirror, determined to find the perfect one.

All the while this was going on the store's owner was watching her go back and forth to the mirror with a smile on his face. _"Reminds me of my daughter" _he mused to himself. He wasn't quick to walk over to Serena as he knew from experience that is was best to let the young woman exhaust her options before approaching her. _"She's got that look only serious shoppers get looking for that perfect piece" _he chuckled to himself. _"I'm gonna miss those looks."_

Serena hung the last dress back up and sighed. _"I can't believe I didn't find one dress I liked" _she moaned to herself. Feeling defeated, she was just about to approach the store owner when something caught her eye and she gasped. On display in the center of the store was a beautiful white wedding dress. The bottom of the dress drapped down elegantly leading to ruffles behind the dress that we're several feet long. The top of the dress was sleeveless and strapless, with beautiful silk flowers perfectly placed throughout it. On top of the mannequin was a gorgeous vale that fell down over the dress also with silk flowers adorned on it, just adding to the perfection of the dress.

Serena's mind went into a daydream as she stared at the wedding dress. She pictured herself walking down the aisle of a beautiful chapel, all while being showered with flower pedals as she approached the altar. When she reached the steps she saw standing there waiting for her the most handsome man she'd ever seen. He had raven-colored spikey hair and there was a Pikachu beside him. _"Ash" _she blushed beneath her veil as he took her hand and led up the altar stairs where they began to say their vows to one another.

While Serena was enjoying her daydream, the store owner looked up at the clock on the wall and saw it was about ten minutes to nine. _"Ten minutes to go..." _he thought sadly. _"Have you ever know the time to go so quickly.." _he thought. He then turned and saw Serena staring at the wedding dress with a large blush on her face. _"Ah young love" _he smiled as he watched her. "well I better go wake her up" he said to himself with a chuckle as he walked over to her.

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the minister asked Serena. A small tear made its way down her cheek and she smiled at her soon to be husband. "I-I do" she stammered trying her best not to cry as joy took over her. "And do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife" the minister had turned to Ash who looked into Serena's eyes and give her that smile she adored. "I do" he said softly. Serena's heart bursted upon hearing those words. "Then by the power vested in me, I now pronouce you husband and wife." _"At last!" _Serena squealed to herself as tears from her face. "You may now kiss your bride" the minister smiled at the two as Ash brought his face towards hers. "Ash" was all she could get out as she lifted her head towards her husband..."My dear you look a little young to be getting married!" a voice said with a small laugh that ripped her from her fantasy. "O-Oh" she said sheepishly as she looked down at the floor, blushing in complete embarassment. "I'm so sorry to have disturbed you miss" he said politely. "My store is closing in ten minutes and was wondering if I could help you with anything before I close" he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Not tonight I don't think" Serena said with a sad smile as she eyed the wedding dress where a small sign caught her attention.

"FOR DISPLAY ONLY, NOT FOR SALE" the sigh read. "This is one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever seen" she said to the owner. "Why wouldn't you want to sell it?" she questioned. "My miss you have quite the eye" he chuckled. "But you see this dress has already been sold" he explained. "It was a special order for a movie company several days ago, it going to worn in an upcoming film by Diantha no less!" he boasted. "Oh I see.." Serena said with a sad smile. "What's wrong miss? Do you not like Diantha?" he said, surprised by Serena's reaction. "N-No!" she quickly responded, worried she mave have sounded rude. "I love Diantha and her films" she explained. "I-It's just that I think a dress this beautiful and perfect deserves to worn in a real wedding.." she trailed. "Thank you miss" the owner smiled. "It means alot to me that there are still people out there that appreciate a concept like that." "I'm sure when your wedding day comes you'll wear a dress that's just as if not more beautiful as this one" he assured her. "Speaking of, is there a lucky young man in your life?" he smiled. "Sorry to pry, but you had the look of love in your eyes as stared at the dress" the owner said drawing a large blush from Serena. "T-There is someone very special to me" she stuttered. "we've been growing alot closer lately, but I'm still not sure she feels the same way I do.." she said with a sad smile, surprised at herself for for spilling her feelings out to a complete stranger. "I wouldn't give up dear" he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes young men take a little longer to figure out their feelings" he assured. "From what you've told me it sounds like he's already started to realize what you already feel" he said giving her a smile. "Don't give up on your feelings miss" he pleaded with her. "Too many people miss out on something wonderful because they gave up too early" he said as he looked up to the clock, which now read five minutes after nine.

"Oh I'm so Sorry!" Serena yelped. "I kept you past your closing time, I'm sure wanna get home!" she said bowing apologetically to him. "Oh its quite alright miss" he chuckled. "I quite enjoyed talking to such a lovely person as yourself" he said warmly. "You remind me of my daughter so much" he said as Serena made her way to the exit. "Thank you so much and I enjoyed the talk too!" she waved "I'll be sure to come back tomorrow when I have more time to look properly" as she turned and walked out the door. The owner waved and watched the young walk out with a sad smile on his face. _"Well...that's that" _as turned to look at the wedding dress. _"I hope you can be proud of me dear" _he thought to the dress.

_"what a pretty dress"_ Serena mused to herself as she began walking back down the strip towards the pokemon center. _"I hope he's right about my wedding" _she thought as visions her wedding with Ash began to reappear in her mind as she walked.

The visions didn't last long however as out of nowhere her wrist was grabbed and she was pulled into an alley between one of the many botiques on the strip. "Let go of me!" she screamed as she was able to escape her attackers grip and run down the alley. "Stay away from me you creep!" she yelled, as she ran down the alley hoping to find an escape. "Get back here!" the man yelled as he chased her.

Serena kept running until reached a point in the alley that was blocked off by crates and various other boxes being prepared to ship. She turned and faced her attacker with a sudden look of determination Ash would often have as she realized she couldn't run anymore. "Alright Fennekin I choose y..." her eyes widened in horror as she quickly realized her plight. _"Oh no I left Fennekin and Pancham with Nurse Joy" _she thought as the all the determination and confidence that had filled her evaporated quicker than it came to her.

She was just about to run again when all of sudden she was grabbed again from behind by another man and she began struggling against him. "Its about time you showed up!" The first man yelled to the man who was wrestling Serena, also sporting the same green uniform the first man was wearing. "That's enough!" he roared as he pushed Serena away from him and the two stood in front of her blocking her exit. Serena, still reeling from the attack had barely begun to steady herself when she was enveloped by a large cloud of brown dust.

_"Stun *cough* spore" _she coughed as the dust filled her lungs and her strength began to leave her body. Tried as she could to keep on her feet, eventully her body surrendered to the stun spore and she collasped to the ground. She used what little strength she had left to look at her attackers. "wha-what do you want?" she stuttered helpless as the two began to approach her. She closed her eyes fearing the worst was about to happen to her, but the men caught her completely off guard when one of them said "We're here to help you miss."

"W-What? Help me!?" she blurted out, the paralysis completely taking over her to the point where she couldn't even hold her head up anymore. "That's right miss, we said help" the man calmly explained. "Your a beautiful young woman and its our duty to help those like you" he said genuinely.

Serena was floored right now. She was expecting to be threatened, tortured, or even worse things..she wasn't expecting to be reassured by those who had just assaulted her. "Young lady wouldn't you like to be young and beautiful forever?" the other man asked her. _"were these men for real?" _she silently asked herself only able to see the first attacker out of her one eye due to her head now being on the ground. "That's impossible, and even if it was possible I wouldn't want to stay this way forever!" she defended with the little strength she had left. "I want to get older, fall in love and have a family someday" she said. "I have dreams I wanna make come true" she said as a tear made its way down her face, hoping maybe got through to them.

Her original attacker looked at her and smiled. _"Maybe I got through to them after all" _she thought with hope as the man turned away from her. Her hopeful thoughts were ended as she sudden;y picked up by the other attacker and placed into a large crate with the symbol of a Far'fetched emblazoned on it. "we didn't expect you to understand" he said as he layed her down into the crate. "No one ever does in the beginning, but once you meet our leader and see his vision for this world..." he said he looked off into the night sky briefly, "You'll forget all about that nonsense and dream rubbish hold so dearly" he said as he stood up and closed the top of the crate. "No-no!" Serena yelled meekly as the top closed. She tried desperately to scream for help but it was no good, the paralysis had completely taken her now and she had no strength left.

The next few minutes went by in a flash for Serena. All she could hear was the sound of various crates and boxes being shuffled and moved around her. Next thing she knew she felt her box being moved and being set down again. _"Why didn't I listen to Ash?" _she berated herself _"Why did I leave my pokemon behind?" _she questioned herself. All these dark thoughts in her head we suddenly stopped when she heard the sound of a door shut and seconds later the sounds of a motor starting. Serena now realized she'd been loaded onto a truck bound for who knows where. It wasn't long after she could feel the vibrations of the truck moving as it began driving down the strip. "Oh no" she said sadly as this was most likely the end. By the time Ash and the others realized she was missing it would be too late. She'd be long gone already and they would likely never find her.

"Ash" she muttered as her mind once again traveled to the image of her wedding day. However now it was no longer a dream for her, it was simply a vision of what could have been. With no strength left and no other options for her, she looked down in the pitch black and thought of the blue ribbon around her neck-the ribbon Ash had given her and began to cry...


	4. Chapter 4 Is it her?

**Writers note: Another chapter up guys! I just finished chapter 5 last night hope to it up very soon! Otherwise enjoy the newest chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 4

"Is it her?"

"Flying Press!" Ash shouted out the Fighting/Flying type pokemon as it went up into the sky and struck its favorite pose. "Great Hawlucha!" its trainer shouted as it began its descent down. "Now Frogadier! Counter with Aerial Ace!" Ash commanded to his recently evolved water-type. The frog pokemon's hands began to glow blue and take on the form of knives as Frogadier lept into the air on a collision course with Hawlucha. The two attacks collided with a large boom the enveloped the battlefield in a cloud of smoke, clearing finally to show both pokemon on their feet ready for more.

"Ok guys that was great!" Ash clapped as he walked up to the two pokemon, effectively ending the contest. "You two are really strong you know that?" he said with pride as Frogadier and Hawlucha clasped hands with one another as a sign of respect. Despite previous dust ups in the past the two had a strong bond and complete trust in one another, even more so since Frogadier had evolved. "It's getting late guys, why don't we head inside get you all checked out by Nurse Joy and then grab some dinner?" he said as all pokemon cried in agreement. "Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as it leaped onto Ash's shoulder while he returned the others to their pokeballs with a thank you.

"we're getting stronger everyday buddy" Ash said as he scratched Pikachu's ear and walked into the back of the pokemon center. "This time things are gonna be different, we're gonna win the Kalos League!" he said with joy as he closed the door behind him. "Pikachu!" the small mouse cheered as well.

Ash was at a small loss as to why his confidence was so high these days. Sure he never lacked confidence before, but for some reason this confidence was quite different. It almost bordered on arrogance, like he thought he couldn't lose no matter what. _"What's so different this time?" _he thought as he walked down the hallway. He began running through his mind his journey in Kalos up until this point. It hadn't started any better than his previous journeys, if fact the argument could made it started worse.

His first gym battle was a disaster, a massacre at the hand's of the Santalune City's gym leader Viola. He was completely outclassed and out strategized by her, beaten so badly he even began to question himself as a trainer and if he could ever truly defeat her. Not exactly the kind of start one would expect for an "experienced" trainer with goals of winning the Kalos League and ultimately becoming a pokemon master. _But lucky for me Serena was able to help me win that one and get back on track" _he chuckled to himself.

All of a sudden he stopped dead in the hallway, like he had hit an invisible wall. His eyes widened as if some part of his mind that was either dormant or never used before had burst to life. "Serena" he said softly and to no one imparticular. "Pika-pi?" Pikachu said looking at the expression on its trainers face with a puzzled look of its own.

Ash's mind was racing at this point, almost as if part of his very soul was waking up after a long slumber. _"Is it her? Is she the reason I feel invincible all the time now?" _he thought. He began thinking back to all previous moments he had shared with her since she came back into his life...

"Is this yours?" a young woman with honey blonde hair asked sweetly as she cradled his backpack in her arms, like she was holding her child afraid to drop it or let go if it..

"You said that once before you know?" she said as he wiped his face with the washcloth she had given him. "Never give up until the end! Its like you've never changed Ash!" she chuckled..

"Remember all the training you did with everyone!" she shouted from the sidelines as he desperately sought a solution in his rematch with Viola..

"You have you own unique rhythm" he remembered her words as battle against Korrina in his third gym battle..

"What would make you happy?" she asked him on the monorail. "The way I see it your pokemon are lot like you Ash" she said with a smile.

"Yes its the present you gave me" Serena said as she placed a hand over the blue ribbon on her chest that he'd given her a couple days earlier with a large blush on her face..

A smile came to Ash's face as he looked down to the floor. "How could I not have seen something so obvious Pikachu?" he said dissapointed in himself. "Pika-pi?" The mouse responded still confused as to what had just happened with his trainer. "I can't believe it took me this long to realize how important she is to me buddy." Pikachu finally smiled as it realized that Ash seemed to finally be having the breakthrough he hoped for. "Let's go get you guys healed up!" he said with huge smile as he resumed walking. _"Sorry for making you wait Serena" _he thought regretfully _"But I'm gonna make it up you ten-fold!" _He beamed as he walked up to Nurse Joy and handed over Pikachu and his other pokemon.

Once Nurse Joy had taken his pokemon, Ash walked over to the booth and saw Clemont still tinkering on his invention, oblivious to the world. Bonnie meanwhile had taken a seat on a nearby sofa with Chespin and Dedenne and was petting their heads. Upon seeing Ash, she give him a big grin and a wave and then resumed petting the two pokemons some more. Ash smiled and waved back before looking down at the booth and getting a small frown on his face. _"where's Serena?"_ he thought as he glanced quickly around the small pokemon center looking for the honey-blonde hair girl, but to no avail. At first he thought maybe she was in the room they we're staying in together, but then remembered Clemon had given him the room key so she couldn't have been in there.

"Hey Clemont" Ash said slightly grabbing the gyn leaders attention. "Has Serena come back yet?" he said with a hint of worry in is voice. "Oh I'm sure she'll be back soon" Clemont responded nonchalantly while still tinkering "You know how Serena can get when she gets on a shopping mission." Ash frowned to himself but realized Clemont was probably right and figured Serena would return soon, so he dropped it for the moment. "I'm gonna go wash up and then grab some dinner" Ash said as he walked down the hall to the bathroom. "Mhm" Clemont muttered as he continued to work, hoping that his next big breakthrough in the future of science was upon him. As Ash walked the hallway he saw that the clock on the wall read Nine-Thirty. _"I hope she gets back soon" _he thought _"we have a lot to talk about tonight" _he said as he opened the door to the bathroom, trying to figure out what exactly he would say to the performer when he did her.

The green truck zoomed out of Starview Town with great speed, trying to make sure no one had seen it. "S-Slow down you idiot!" the passenger of the vehicle screamed "You want Officer Jenny to nail us?" he growled. "Relax..the Far'Fetched Company has a sterling reputation, no one is gonna bother us" the driver soothed devilishly. His partner wasn't so quick how ever to come down. "Your certain the girl was by herself? he asked, almost with of begging in his voice. "I already told you to relax!" the driver spat back. "I watched the girl leave the pokemon center by herself and walk the entire strip by herself" he boasted, clearly proud of his stealth skills and recon work. "No one ever approached her on the strip or came and went from her" he added with an evil smile on his face as the truck reached the shipping dispatch. "It's all going according to plan, just keep you head and we'll home clear in a couple of hours" the driver said mockingly to passenger who just pouted in his seat.

Ash had finished in the bathroom and was washed up as he walked back out into the lobby of the Pokemon center. "Perfect timing!" Nurse Joy exclaimed as Pikachu leap back onto his shoulder. "You Pokemon are perfectly healed and in great shape!" the nurse smiled as she handed Ash his remaining pokeballs. "Thanks alot Nurse Joy" he said back warmly as he made his way over too the small cafeteria on the side of the pokemon center. They we're going to be closing the cafeteria soon, so Ash decided to grab a tray of food for Serena as well since he hadn't seen her yet. _"I hope she's in the mood for pasta"_ he thought as he saw the limited selection left due to the late hour. He filled up two trays and walked back over to the booth where Clemont was still lost in invention.

"Has Serena come back?" Ash asked again as he set the trays down on the table. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and down to the table where it began munching on some pokemon food Clemont had put out earlier for the other Pokemon. "Not yet" Clemont once again said without much behind it, as he continued to stare at his newest invention that was begining to take shape.

Ash looked up at the clock on the wall again and was instantly filled with worry. "Clemont its almost Ten o'clock" he said with a small amount of force in his voice bringing Clemont out of his trance and causing Pikachu to stop eating and look up at him. "She should have been back by now..." Ash said his voice riddled with concern. Clemont saw the look on Ash's face and began to grow a little concerned himself. "M-Maybe it was just a long walk back and she was carrying a lot of bags?" the gym said trying to stay positive. "No way!" Ash said back "Most of the shops should have closed at least an hour or two ago." "Even if she was walking back from the far end of the strip, she should still have been back by now' he explained. "Something must have happened..." Ash didn't want to give in to fear, but he knew the folly in hanging on to false hope. "Should we go and look for her?" Clemont asked as Pikachu also looked on with a worried look at its trainers expression. "Hmmm..." Ash thought for a moment as he folded his arms in thought for a brief moment before coming to a decision.

"I'm gonna go look for Serena" Ash said with a look of determination on his face. "You stay here with Bonnie in case she does come back" he said. "If we were all to go looking for her and she were to come back here and we were gone it would only compound our problems" Ash said as he picked up his backpack and put it on his shoulders. "I'll find her and bring her back safe" he said as he placed a hand on Clemont's shoulder. "I guess that makes the most sense" Clemont responded sadly, wishing he could be of more help than just sitting and watching. "One more thing" Ash added "If I'm not back with Serena tomorrow morning I need you to get Nurse Joy to call Officer Jenny" Ash said with a stern look on his face. "But why don't you call her now?!" Clemont asked, clearly taken back by the request. "I have my reasons" Ash simply responded. "B-But she could be a big help!" Clemont pleaded with him. "I really think we should ca.." "I need you to trust me Clemont!" Ash shouted back with fire in his eyes. Clemont looked on in amazement at Ash. He'd seen Ash's fire filled spirit before many times but this was different, it was as if his very soul was burning within him unable to be stopped.

"Alright Ash..." Clemont finally said in a defeated tone. "I'll do as you ask, promise to be careful" as he clasped hands with Ash. "You got it Clemont!" he said with a determined smile. "Let's go Pikachu!" he said as he turned to his beloved partner. "Pika!" the small mouse shouted with vigor as leaped onto his shoulder, the same look of determination on its face its trainer had. Like a flash Ash was out the door and running down the street.

"where's Ash off to so fast? and young voice said behind Clemont. "And where is Serena its kinda late..?" Bonnie asked with a hint of worry in her voice. Clemont hated lying to his sister, but at the moment he thought it was best not to worry her. "Ash just ran off to get Serena" he said "I guess she bit off more than she could chew shopping and needs some help carrying all her bags back" he lied hoping that would be enough to sell Bonnie. "Serena is so silly sometimes!" the little giggled as she ran off with Dedenne and Chespin again, much to Clemont's relief. "Phew..." he sighed to himself. _"The last we need is Bonnie getting worried right now, she'd probably go running after Ash if she knew the truth" _he thought sadly as he looked out the window into the night.

Ash ran down the street as quickly as he could, cringing to himself as a thought just kept playing in his mind over and over again. "Ash I'll be fine its just shopping" she said as she walked up to him and tried to reassure him. "By the time your done training I'll already be back..." Ash was instantly stopped falling to his knees and grabbing his head as the nightmare overtook him. "AHHHHH!" he screamed in agony is the image of her hugging him began to taunt him in his mind. "What was I thinking letting her go by herself?!" he shouted sadly as all he wanted to do was have that hug again, knowing Serena was safe as he held her. "Pika-pi.." Pikachu said as it patted Ash on the shoulder trying to reassure him. Ash looked and saw the expression on the mouse's face and smiled. "Your right buddy, I promised her" he said as he stood back up, the fire in his soul burning brightly again. _"I promised I would always protect you" _he remembered his words _"I'm not gonna fail you, I'm coming Serena!" _he thought to himself as he raced down the strip again.


	5. Chapter 5 A light in the windows

**Authors note: Hey guys back with another chapter, hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Once again I appreciate all the follows/favorites and reviews. This was the longest chapter so far and I hope you enjoy it. I decided to take a few *cough* liberties with Ash as way to show how far he's willing to go to save Serena. Anyways enjoy chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 5

"A light in the windows"

The shopping strip of Starview Town was empty as another night had fallen upon it. The workers and shop owners of the town closed and retired to their homes for the evening. Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny had also settled in, having made their preparations for the night shift should any problems arise. With only the now dimmed street lights lining the street, the stars sparkled like diamonds in the night sky over the town. Starview Town's main street was the picture of peace and serenity, save for a young man sprinting down the street with a Pikachu on his shoulder.

Ash's eyes frantically made their way from one side of the street to the other, hoping to catch a glimpse of the honey-blonde hair girl he promised to protect, praying this was all a terrible misunderstanding and he'd see her making her way back to the pokemon center. He'd probably scold her at first for making him worry, only to finally crack and tell her how much she meant to him, pulling her into a tight embrace and promising to never leave her side again. He was hoping this was just some sort of sick and twisted dream he'd awake from soon, but sadly it was quickly becoming a real-life nightmare.

The direness of the situation just kept piling on Ash like a rock-slide. He quickly realized that there was no one on the strip but him and Pikachu. Every store he passed had it's lights off and doors locked for the night, telling him she wasn't in any of them. _"where could you be Serena?" _he moaned to himself as he continued to run down the street, praying for a miracle to present itself to him.

Due to the fact that he was running, it only took him Ash about fifteen minutes to reach the far end of the strip. As soon as he realized that weren't any other shops farther down the way his heart sank. "It's impossible" he muttered to himself sadly "Even if she walked back from this far with a full load of bags, she still would have made it back by now..." Ash cringed, completely accepting of the terrible truth that something terrible had happened to Serena. He tried to think of something, anything he could do to find a lead to track her down and bring her back to him.

Ash just became more and more distressed as he thought, he knew he had nothing to go on. He didn't know which way she walked, what stores she went into, when she may have attempted to come back to the pokemon center, nothing. "This is all my fault..." he spat with anger in his voice. "I should have went with her!" he yelled as he put his fist into a nearby mailbox, drawing a shocked gasp from Pikachu. "Pika-pi!" it said once again trying to encourage its trainer like it did before. "But what do I do Pikachu?!" Ash snapped back at the yellow mouse "I have no idea where to even begin to look for Serena!" he yelled, nearly at his breaking point as he fell to his knees once again. "Pikachu-Pikachu-Pi!" yelled back causing Ash to look back at it. "Never give up?" Ash muttered for a moment before a sad smile came to his face. "I'm sorry buddy, your right" he said as he stood back up. "Serena needs me! I can't give up no matter how impossible it seems." He said as he glanced around and looked for something that may have missed before.

A light in the windows of a small shop across the street caught his attention and he raced over to see what it was. It was a smaller shop than the others, he probably wouldn't have noticed it if not for the lights being on. As he peered into the window he saw various dresses hanging all over the store and what appeared to be a middle-aged man standing in the middle of the store. As Ash continued to look it seemed the man was lost in thought as gazed around the store, a sad look on his face. "Its not much but he may be the only chance we have of finding Serena Pikachu" he said to his partner. Pikachu simply nodded in agreement and Ash began pounding on the door, hoping to get the man's attention.

The store owner was deep in a trip down memory lane when the sound of pounding got his attention. He turned around to a young man with appeared to be a Pikachu pounding away on the door. He frowned and pointed at the clock on the wall, trying to convey to the young man that was closed. He then saw him appear to mouth something, but he couldn't make out what it was as the young man began pounding again.

Seeing that the two didn't look overly threatning, the owner walked to the door. _"Might as well see what he wants so badly.." _the man sighed as approached the door, doubting the young man was a robber and was most likely just lost. "Young man I'm sorry" he said cracking the door open "We're closed for tonight, I'm afraid your going to have to come back tomarr..!" he was quickly caught off balance and stumbled back as the young man stuck his arm in the door to keep him from closing it.

"Please sir you have to help me!" the raven-haired boy yelled as he pushed the door open, knocking the owner into the store. "Easy-Easy Young man what's wrong?!" he stammered as he watch the young man rummaging through his backpack, clearly searching for something. All of a sudden the boy pulled out what appeared to be a picture of a group of people and held it out to him.

"Tell me sir did this girl come in your store or walk past it tonight by any chance?!" the young man said with panic in his voice as his finger pointed to a girl in the picture. The girl was quite pretty, with honey-blonde hair and blue eyes. The store owner looked her briefly, unsure if he knew her. She looked familiar, but he just couldn't place her. "Young man there was a young lady in my store tonight who beared a resemblance to this one, but I can say for certain that this girl in the picture didn't come into my store tonight." Ash's heart shattered at the man's words, the only possible lead he had went dry. He had nothing left to go on now and didn't know what to do. He sadly stared at her again in the picture admiring her beauty, thinking about how he would never see that smile of hers again or her blue eyes or that beautiful long honey blonde hair...

"wait a second!" Ash exclaimed, grabbing the owner attention again. "My friend recently got a new haircut and outfit" he said, silently cursing himself for not remembering her new look earlier. Ash then went into as great of detail as he could decribing everything from her new hair, clothes, boots and of course the blue ribbon over her heart. He prayed maybe the owner had in fact seen her.

"Of course!" the owner suddenly exclaimed "That was her! I'm so sorry young man, I can't believe I didn't recogonize that face and smile of hers sooner" he apologized as he eyed the picture again, remembering the sweet young woman who he was chatting with earlier. "Tell me son why are you looking for her?" Ash simply his head down "She never came back the pokemon center" he said worriedly "something happened to her, but I don't know what." The store owner gapsed as he listened to what Ash told him, shocked that something awful happened to the sweet young woman. "Can you tell me sir, what time did she leave your shop?" Ash asked "Did you see which way she walked when she left?" he added "Anything-anything at all you could tell me would help so much!" Ash begged as the store desperately tried to wrack his brain to remember as much as he could about Serena's departure from his shop. "She left my store a little after nine" he said "she was my last customer of the night before I closed" he added. "Did you see which way she went when she left?!" Ash asked again. "N-No son I'm sorry I didn't.." he said sadly, wishing he could be of more help. All of sudden an idea popped in his head. "Wait a second I may have an idea son!" he exclaimed "but I must warn you its a long shot..." he added not wanting to give the young man false hope. "I'll take it!" the young man immediately replied "No matter how small the chance, it's still the best chance I have right now" Ash hoped thinking this was the miracle he was waiting for.

"I have a few security camera's around my shop.." the owner explained to Ash "They're older models and low tech, but just maybe they caught something that'll help you" the owner said as he sat down at the counter and began rewinding the tapes. "Thank you.." Ash replied warmly as waited on the owner to see what the tapes showed.

Seeing as there was nothing better to do while he waited, Ash took a moment to look at a few of the dresses on display. His eyes wandered a bit before they were stopped by a certain wedding dress on display in the middle of the store. Ash wasn't one for fashion, but even he could tell how special this dress was and how nice it looked. "Your friend was quite taken with that dress" the owner said as saw Ash eying the dress while he was rewinding the tape. "I must admit for my last it came out quite nice" the man boasted. Ash's mind wandered as he began to picture Serena in the dress and he blushed. It was then the owners words caught his attention. "Wait what do you mean by last?" Ash asked confused. "Tonight was my last night working in this shop, tomorrow my wonderful daughter takes over me" he explained "The wedding dress you see before you is the last dress I'll ever make" he said with a smile. "Tomorrow begins my retirement and the next chapter in my life" the owner finished. "Retirement?!" Ash said with a quizzical look on his face "But you look so young" he said causing the man to smile. "Yes its true son I am only in my late forties" he began "but I felt if was time, you see my wife died a couple of years ago and I've been working alot more here to try and help with the healing process.." he said with a sad smile causing Ash to frown. "I'm so sorry" Ash said "I didn't mean to bring up those feelings again for you" he added apologetically. "It's quite alright son, I've been thinking about her since I closed up tonight." "I suppose that's the reason you found me here so late" he said "I guess I was just taking it all in before I walked out for the last time" he told as once again the memories filled his mind. "The truth is I want to see the world son" he continued, pushing aside the memories in his mind. "I want to see what's out there before I'm too old to do it properly" he stated "that's why tomorrow I'm hitting the road to begin the next chapter in my life" he concluded, drawing a smile from Ash. Ash knew the excitement that came with starting a new journey and couldn't help but be happy for the man.. "Here!" the man shouted causing Ash to run oever to him and look at the monitor. "This is right after the time she would have left my store" the man said "let's see if we can see anything."

Ash watched the screen carefully as the images began to play across the screen. The picture was small and in black and white, but clear enough he to where he may be able to see something. The first couple minutes went by without anything, then all of a sudden a person was seen running down the alley with their back turned to the camera. It was difficult at first, but upon closer inspection the person appeared to be wearing a dress. Ash smiled widely "that's Serena!" as joy filled him as he finnally had a solid lead on where she had gone. His joy quickly ended as seconds later another person appeared on the screen, much larger than Serena and chasing her down the alley. Ash's fears had been confirmed, Serena had been attacked with no one around to help her. Ash put his head down in his hands and began to shake as the anger overtook him, he wanted nothing more to lash out at the man on the screen but was more angry with someone else right now-himself.

"I let her go out after dark by herself.." Ash growled with a tear leaving his one eye. "Now son don't be so hard on yourself" the store owner soothed. "There's no way you could have known this would have happened." "The important thing now is you use what you have found out out to find her" he added "What's done is done son, all you can do now is save her." Ash picked his head from his hands and looked at the man briefly before smiling. The man was right, wallowing in guilt was not going to save Serena.

"Alright let's focus on the guy in the video" Ash said calmly "maybe he slipped up or has something that can help us." He said as the two began closely studying the man chasing Serena. Although the picture was small was small they seemed to able to make out what appeared to be some sort of flying pokemon on the back of the man's shirt. "It kinda looks like a Far'Fetched" Ash muttered as he squinted at the monitor. Upon hearing this the store owners eyes shot open as he recognized the symbol. "Your right son!" he exclaimed "that's the logo of the Far'Fetched Shipping Company!" the man said, shocked at what they had figured out. "But why would a shipping worker attack your friend though?" he asked looking at Ash with a confused look. "I don't think he is a shipping worker" Ash responded. "I think whoever this guy is, he's using the shipping company as a cover whatever he's up to" Ash said with some level of hope as it seemed the pieces were beginning to come together for him.

"I'll call officer Jenny!" the man said he ran over to the phone on the wall, but Ash quickly stopped him. "No wait don't!" Ash screamed causing the man turn around in surprise. "But son your friend was kidnapped, we have to inform the police" he said stunned at the young man's antics. "I can't have her involved, not yet atleast." Ash said, causing the store owner to raise an eyebrow. "why not son?" he asked clearly lost now to what Ash's intentions were. "Right now the only lead we have is the Far'fetched Shipping Company, I have no idea who that man is or where he took Serena or if he had any help." "If he has any associates here still and Officer Jenny starts poking around, they'll alert him and he'll run away with Serena and I'll never find her!" The man finally nodded in understanding, as much as they both could have used Officer Jenny's help it was too risky at this point. "But what will you do son?" the man then asked. Ash stood for moment before giving his response. "I'm going to the Far'fetched shipping company dispatch, I think that's where the man may have taken her to keep up his image of being a shipper." "It's the best lead I have so I'm going to have to take a chance on it" Ash said with a stern look on his face. He hated the idea of taking a gamble on Serena's life, but it clearly was the best chance he had. "How far away is the dispatch on foot from here?" he asked the store owner.

The owner thought for a moment and the looked at the clock on the wall trying to do the math. After a few moments he looked at Ash and frowned. "Even if you had the stamina to sprint the entire way, I still think it would take about an hour and a half" the man said "That would get you there around midnight and a large portion of the trucks leave at Eleven Thirty." "There has to be someway I can get there faster!" Ash said as he took a moment to think. His eyes then made their way to the front windows of the shop, where he saw a motorcycle parked out front on the street.

"Is that motorcycle out front yours by any chance?" Ash asked the owner as he pointed to the bike thought the window. "Yes it is" the man responded "it was just delivered here for me brand new, why do you ask?" he said, unaware of what was coming next. "How much?" Ash asked drawing a blank stare from the man. "How much for what?" the man asked confused. "How much for the bike?" Ash asked once again, this time drawing a gasp from the man. "Son you can't be serious?!" "This is a high performance top of the line motorcycle, you could never afford it." the man tried to explain to Ash. "I can" Ash simply responded as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a silver case, opening it to reveal a massive amount of pokedollars neatly arranged inside the case. "H-how did you get all this money?!" the man exclaimed, completely at a loss by how a young man like him could have so much money. "Remember that world your so eager to get out and explore?" Ash explained "I've competed in Pokemon leagues and gyms all over the world" Ash said with a tinge of pride. "This is all the money I've earned doing it, so please sir I ask you again...how much for the bike?" The man looked out the window at the motorcycle and then back to see the expression on Ash's face. He hated to give up the bike since he hadn't even rode it yet, but clearly this young man needed it a lot more than him at this moment. "Alright son I'll make you a deal..you give $750,000 pokedollars and I'll let you borrow the bike" the man began "If you bring the bike back to me without a scratch, I'll give you $500,000 pokedollars back" "That only puts you on the hook for $150,000 in the end." "Best case scenario you only pay $150,000 and save your friend, worse case something happens to the bike while you save your friend and I use all the money to replace my bike" he finished. "what do say son, does that work for you?" "Deal." Ash said without hesitation and began to count out the money for the bike to hand to the store owner. "There you go" Ash said as he handed the money over. The man couldn't help but notice the once packed silver case was nearly empty now. "Are you sure about this son?" "You've given me almost all your money" he said with a frown. "Serena is worth more to me than any amount of money" Ash said with a smile. "I'd give every dollar I had if it meant her being back safe with me" he finished causing the man to smile. "Good luck then son." the man said as he extended a hand to Ash. "Thank you for all your help...Oh s-sorry" Ash stammered "I never got your name. The gave him a smile and a light chuckle. "My name is Gunther" the man said pleased to have been able to help the young man after all. "well then Gunther I don't know who to ever thank you, if you ever need anything you'll always have a friend in Ash Ketchum" he said as the tow shook hands. "Just go save her" Guther simply responded as the two walked out of the store towards the motorcycle.

Ash quickly hopped on the bike, Pikachu sat on his shoulder as Ash quickly looked over all the gauges and levers and fired the engine. The motorcycle roared to life and Ash looked at Gunther one last time and gave him a nod as to say "thanks" again. Gunther returned the nod and Ash pulled away slowly and puttered slowly down the street before all of a sudden getting a huge burst of acceleration and vanishing into the night. "I hope you find her Ash..." he said even though the young man was far out of earshot now. Gunther turned and began to walk back into the store when he suddenly stopped. His eyes widened and turned back and looked in the direction Ash was heading when a thought popped into his head. _"Is he even old enough to drive?"_


	6. Chapter 6 The Scent of my Flower

**Writer's note: Hey guys sorry for the brief delay, got a knock on my hand from playing hockey so my progress has been slowed some. But its getting better now and I'll get the next chapters out as quick as I can. Thanks again for all the reviews and follows and I hope you enjoy Chapter 6!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 6

"The scent of my flower"

The peaceful serenity of the streets outside of Starview Town was quickly broken by the roar of the motorcycle as it roared through the countryside. Ash continued to scan ahead as he rode looking for signs that he was coming up on the shipping dispatch. The first little bit of the ride was relatively uneventful. Though this was his first time driving, it only took a few moments of weaving and skidding before he got the hang the of bike and was flying down the road as if he'd done it his whole life.

As he rode Ash's mind was playing through a million different scenarios in his head about how he was gonna to attempt to save Serena and how it may possibly go. The first that came to mind relatively straight forward. He would storm the gate and demand that every single building and truck be searched until he found Serena. Ash quickly shook his head to that one. Even if he managed to get in he had no idea who his foes were right now and couldn't risk a head-on confrontation.

He figured the best option he had was to attempt to sneak onto the dispatch grounds and find Serena before the trucks left to make their deliveries. But doubts once again flooded his mind. He had no idea how big the dispatch was, or the layout of it. Who knows if he would even have enough time to completely search the place before the trucks left. Then there was of course the biggest one, was Serena even here at all? Ash knew he had taken a huge risk coming here, it was his best lead but there were no guarantees that the man who attacked Serena brought her here.

"Pika!" the mouse on his shoulder exclaimed while pointing its finger up ahead of Ash. Some lights could be seen in the distance and appeared they we're coming up on something. Ash continued to stare until a road sign confirmed what he had hoped. "Far'fetched Shipping Company Dispatch-One mile ahead" the sign read. "Good we made it buddy" Ash said as they closed in the site.

About a quarter mile away from the site Ash found a parking lot and decided it was best if he left the motorcycle there. The bike was too loud and he didn't want to draw attention to himself so he pulled off the road and parked. "Ok its on foot from here Pikachu, you ready?" "Pikachu!" his partner exclaimed as it leaped from his shoulder and the two began running towards the dispatch.

After about fifteen minutes of running they reached the dispatch and began to overlook the site. Upon scanning it Ash got some early good news. There were only 3 buildings on the entire site. The first was a small one was big open windows all around you could easily see in. People could be seen talking, sitting, eating and so on. Mostly likely this is where the drivers gathered before leaving with their deliveries. The second building was the largest of the three, likely where the various crates and boxes were sorted and loaded onto the trucks for shipping. Lastly another smaller building stood off the side of the other two. A large antenna stood on its roof clearly marking this as the radio tower for the dispatch. This helped ease Ash a little as he knew more than likely Serena was not in any of these buildings, this guy was trying to pose as a shipper so more than likely he stashed Serena on a truck and was waiting to depart.

"Ok Pikachu we just gotta get in there now and find her" he said as the two approached the site. He didn't really have much of a plan, he just decided to make it up as he went. The two reached a chain link fence surrounding the facility and Ash decided the best move was to climb in. "Frogadier I choose you!" Ash yelled as the frog pokemon appeared before them. "Alright Frogadier we're gonna sneak onto this dispatch site and I could use someone like you to help me out and cover my back, you in?" "Fro!" it happily responded and three quickly began to scale the fence.

Once they were inside Ash and two quickly ducked behind cover and made sure they hadn't alerted anyone to their arrival. After a couple of minutes it seemed like they were in the clear, the three moved out and made their way towards where the shipping trucks were. The area was quiet, showing that the trucks we're already loaded and just waiting to depart. Unfortunately for Ash that was the least of his troubles. He walked into the truck yard and gasped. "There's gotta be almost two hundred trucks here!" he moaned to himself. The hill just became a mountain. Finding Serena on a truck was quite literally going be like trying to find the needle in the haystack. To make matters even worse a large digital clock in the yard caught Ash's eye which read "11:05."

He only had twenty five minutes to search two hundred trucks, even with all his pokemon helping the task was impossible. Ash quickly scratched his head and tried to think of something to help their search. "I got an idea guys!" Ash exclaimed walking over towards the dispatch tower. "I bet there's a manifest in there that tells where every truck is going and maybe that can help us. Ash silently approached the door and ducked around the corner. "Frogadier do me a favor and go see if the coast is clear" Ash said as the frog pokemon made it's way towards the window. After a few moments Frogadier gave Ash an all clear signal and he quickly ran into the tower.

On the table there were a couple of books that Ash picked up and saw that they were what he was looking for. They were exact copies so he set one down and began to make his way towards the door when he heard voices approaching. Ash quickly ducked behind a door hoping he wasn't seen as two men entered the room and sat down. Almost immediately one of the man looked at the other and asked "hey have you seen my manifest?" Ash looked down in his hands and gulped as he realized that he had just broken his plan of trying to go undetected. He quickly thought about subduing the two before they left the room. If word got out about something like this, the imposer posing as a shipper might get scared and take of with Serena. Fortunately for Ash he got lucky as the other man's response caught him off guard. "geez if I had a nickel for every time you lost your copy of the manifest I'd be sipping back cold ones on Cinnabar Island right now!" he jested at his co-worker. Ash breathed a silent sigh of relief as this seemed to be quite a common occurrence as the two men walked back out of the building. Ash quickly darted back out to the truck yard manifest in hand.

Finding a good spot of cover, Ash quickly began to scan the manifest. The book was even better than he had hoped, truck numbers, service dates, where they were heading, the book had it all. His eyes danced across the paper looking for anything off. After nothing caught his eye he scanned it again from the beginning before frustration took over and he shook his head in anger. "Come on there just has be a clue on the list.." he muttered to himself before a small F caught his eye. "This trucks number is 38F...why?" Ash said as he compared it to the others. "All of the other trucks on the list don't have letters in their ID so why does this one?" As he looked over the info on the truck his eyes widened. This truck was only put into service yesterday and its delivery point was only marked as "Northern Kalos" upon further inspection this was only one that didn't have a precise destination for it. All of this put together seemed like this might be the one Ash was looking for, but he doubted again. I mean for all he knew it was just new a truck being put in service with a new call sign. Aside from its bland destination there really wasn't anything more or less suspicious about it.

Ash sulked for a second before a pat on his shoulder brought him back. Ash turned around to see Pikachu and Frogadier smiling at him with determined looks on their faces. "You two are right..my instincts got us this far, I just have to trust them." Ash then stood up before grabbing three pokeballs from his belt and tossing them into the air. "Everyone come on out!" as the rest of team appeared before them. "Alright guys we need to search this yard for truck 38F ok?" the pokemon all cried in an affirmative reply. "Ok then spread out and be careful not to be seen." Ash's eyes darted back up to the clock which now read "11:17." "We don't have a lot of time guys so lets do this!" he yelled as everyone ran off in different directions.

After about running through the lot for several minutes Ash stopped to quickly catch his breath. This was even harder than he thought it would be, the trucks weren't parked in any order so he just to hope he would find it by chance. Before he could run again he was interrupted by the sound of Pikachu and his other pokemon returning to him. "Did any of you find the truck?" Ash asked with hope but it was quickly doused when his poke all shook their heads no before hanging their heads. All that is except for the one that hadn't returned yet. "Hey where's Goomy?" Ash asked as the other pokemon looked around trying to find him. They looks were quickly stopped as the faint cry of Goomy soon turned they attention and they ran towards it.

Upon finding it, Goomy just stood there with blank expression on it face. "Goomy are you ok?" Ash asked the small pokemon. Goomy just sat there for a moment before turning around to face the truck behind it. "38F! You found it Goomy great job!" Ash shouted as he picked the small pokemon up over his head to commend in. All of Ash's other pokemon joined in as well. Goomy may have been small and somewhat slow but still had as big of a heart as Ash's other pokemon. "Thanks alot everyone take a rest" Ash said to the group as he recalled them to their pokeballs before setting his eyes on the truck.

The digital clock now read "11:29" as Ash took a breath. _"This is it" _he thought to himself. It truly was his last chance. He quickly opened up the truck's back door and climbed in closing the door behind him as he scanned the back of the truck. Pikachu had located a light switch and flipped it on so they wouldn't have to search in the dark. Just as Ash opened the first crate to check for Serena he heard the trucks motor fire and the vehicle begin to move. _"No going back now" _he thought to himself as he continued to open crates one by one to no avail. Shoes, hats, dresses, everything he would expect to find on one of these trucks but no Serena.

After about fifteen of minutes of searching Ash had reached the last crate. His heartbeat began to quicken as opened the top of the crate and gasped. Inside the box was a pink dress, complete with red and black ribbons not too different from the one Serena's mother had given her for he first pokemon performance. Ash's heart shattered instantly, he fell to his knees before the crate and just stared at the dress in it. He had failed, his instincts were all wrong. Serena wasn't here and now he was stranded on a truck to who knows where. Its wasn't the end of the world for Ash he would simply ride out the ride and explain what happened to the driver before finding the nearest pokemon center to call Clemont and explain what happened.

Frankly what happened to him was least of Ash's thoughts right now. All he could think about was Serena. Where was she? What were they going to do to her? Why didn't he figure out his feelings for her sooner? The questions began to taunt to Ash as he just kneed before the crate motionless. Pikachu stood there watching it trainer, wanting nothing more than to go over and encourage him but knew it was pointless. Even it knew the situation now and knew nothing it said or did could help right now. Ash just knelt there thinking about Serena. Her eyes, her hair, her smile, her scent, trying to take it in as if he could will her back to him by thinking about her. It wasn't long before the sweet scent of flowers filled him again and he smiled. _"I really like that smell" _he thought as he allowed the scent to completely engulf him and pictured himself holding Serena in his arms. _"That scent.."_ he thought before his eyes ripped open and he realized that the scent wasn't in his mind _"I know that smell its unmistakable!" _his mind raced as he once began combing the crate in front of him and picked up the dress and saw there was a second lid underneath it. It took some prying but it finally opened and revealed to Ash what he would have thought was an angel for a brief moment.

Inside the crate asleep was a beautiful honey blonde haired girl with a certain blue ribbon around her neck. Ash was ready to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming before the unmistakable scent of flowers filled his senses again. _"This is definitely no dream.." _he smiled as looked at her _"You can't dream that scent, that's the scent of my flower.." _

He eyes quickly made there way up and down Serena's body to see if there were any signs of injury. He didn't see any marks or scratches, but noticed her face was tear stained and his heart cracked a little. _"She must have cried herself to sleep..." _he thought sadly as he ran his hand down her cheek, almost not wanting to wake her. His touch seemed to do the trick though as she began to stir, her eyes began to make their way up out of the crate before they met his. "Young lady I don't think this a boutique" he said with warm smile. A small weak smile made its way to her face and she softly said the only thing that mattered to her right now. "Ash.."


	7. Chapter 7 Issues to deal with

**Writer's Note: Hey everyone back with another chapter. Thanks for all support and reviews, I'll keep the chapters coming as fast as possible. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 7

"Issues to deal with"

Clemont stared at the front door of the pokemon center and gave out a small sigh, he was still upset at himself for not noticing Serena's absence earlier. The gym leader was on a journey to improve himself and this was certainly a setback in all the progress he made he thought. _"I hope Ash finds her" _he continued to pray as he finally glanced over at his little sister and smiled.

Bonnie was curled up by the window fast asleep, Dedenne was snuggled into her stomach and her arm was wrapped around Chepsin who were also both fast asleep. Clemont looked up at the clock and saw that it was after midnight. "Guess there's nothing I can do now.." he mumbled as he walked over towards his sister. It was clear to him at this point Serena wasn't coming back on her own and Ash wasn't coming back until he had found her. After returning Chespin to its pokeball he picked up his sister and and walked down the hallway towards their room.

Upon unlocking the door Clemont carried Bonnie in and noticed something was off. While the room was very nice, it didn't match the description Nurse Joy had given them earlier in the day. For starters there were two beds in thr room instead of one and not much as far as furnishings either. It took a moment before Clemont realized what had happened and chuckled to himself. _"Guess I gave Ash the Royal suite key on accident when I dropped them" _he thought as he tucked his sister into bed and wished her goodnight. _"Sorry Bonnie guess your gonna have to make do without the royal suite" _he thought as he gave a sad smile to his sleeping sister. After changing into his pajamas he climbed into the other bed and looked at the moon in the sky one last time. _"Please Ash, you have to find her" _he thought sadly as he closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep...

"Ash" the honey blonde girl weakly muttered as she looked up to her saviors face. Part of her still couldn't believe it and thought she was still dreaming. Although one half knew Ash would come and save her no matter what, the other couldn't figure out how he managed to find her given what had happened to her.

"Serena! I'm so glad your safe!" Ash exclaimed as he looked at her with a small tear forming in his eye. He had found her despite the impossible odds, he trusted his instincts and pokemon and they all came through for him. _"There's no doubt in my mind now" _he thought as he quickly recalled in his mind the nights challenges leading up till now _"I'm meant to be with her, this is just another sign" _he concluded as he extended his hand to Serena. "Here lets get you out of that crate" he said warmly thinking back to when they were little. His expression quickly changed to one of concern as Serena didn't move, and tears started to run down her cheek again. "Serena whats wrong?!" he asked frantically as she tried to turn her head up to him. "T-t-they s-sprayed m-me w-w-with Stu-stun sporeee..." she weakly cried as the tears continued to fall from her face. Ash didn't even hesitate at that point as he reached down into the crate and gently lifted her into his arms. "Don't worry" he whispered softly into her ear "I've got you and I promise nothing is gonna hurt you ever again" he said as his instincts took over and he gently kissed her on the forehead. He wasn't sure what made him want to do that, maybe it was just to comfort her or maybe it just felt right. Either way his cheeks went slightly red after doing so.

Serena although still under the effects of the stun spore felt the kiss on her forehead and immediately blushed. Ash's words before he kissed her already had her heart racing, the kiss was completely unlike Ash and took her off guard. "I k-knew you f-f-find me" she said as wanted nothing more than to return the kiss he gave her and struggled with every ounce of strength she had to lift her head up to him. Ash, unaware of what she was attempting stopped her and gently placed her head back on his shoulder. "Hey..you just rest ok" he said with a warm smile as he placed his free hand on her cheek and cupped her face. "I'm gonna get you out here ok?" Serena realizing she would get another chance later simply replied "ok" as she closed her eyes with a content smile.

Watching Serena's eyes close and seeing the smile on her face filled Ash with a sense of thankfulness he never knew he had. He wrapped his arms around Serena and brought her into his chest like a young child would hold their teddy bear. He knew had to come up with a plan to get out of their situation, but right now he just wanted to hold her and never let go.

"Pika-pi.." a small voice said causing Ash to look up from Serena. Pikachu was standing near them looking at Serena with a concerned look on its face. "Don't worry buddy she's going to be alright." Ash said flashing the rodent a small smile. Pikachu nodded and smiled back and Ash took a brief look back at Serena before looking around the back of the truck again.

Although he had succeeded in finding Serena- Ash now faced another issue, figuring out how to get back to Starview Town. Several problems now plagued him, He had no idea where they were considering they were still in the truck. Second he didn't know if the people driving were friends or foes, and worst of all Serena was unable to move or protect herself.

_"what am I going to do?" _Ash thought to himself as looked down at Serena again. She wasn't heavy at all to him, but even with her lightness carrying her would still slow him down running with her. Ash had only a couple of options, jumping out of the moving truck with Serena was too risky. It would be dangerous enough if she was able to jump let alone her current status. Ash figured he would have to first get the truck to stop. Once the truck was stopped he had more issues to deal with. Did he attack the drivers of the truck head on or did he try to do enough to just get away with Serena? _"That's to say the drivers are even the one's who took her in the first place" _Ash contemplated to himself.

After thinking about the situation Ash came to a decision and call Pikachu and Frogadier over. "Ok guys here's what we're gonna do" he said quietly as the two looked on to him. "We're gonna toss crates out of the back of the truck and hope that makes them stop." "When they stop and come around to the back of the truck we'll wait see if they give themselves away as the one's who took Serena" he continued "If they are the one's who grabbed Serena, Pikachu you know what to do..." Ash said as looked at his partner with an angry look on his face. "Pika!" no other words needed to be said between the two. Pikachu knew how Ash felt about Serena and he was more than happy to give Serena's attackers a little payback. With that settled Ash turned to the frog pokemon. "Frogadier I have a special job for you..."

The truck continued to speed along as the two men in the front the truck began checking notes and times of various jobs going on in the area. "How we looking on time?" the man driving asked the other who was currently looking at a map then checking his watch. "So far so good" he responded "If we can keep this pace we'll be there by morning." He then looked out the window at the various stars in the sky and sighed. "I can't wait till this over and we can finally announce our arrival" he said with a frown on his face. "Everything we do right is important to the cause" the driver responded. "Its only a matter of time before the boss...WHAT THE?!" he all of the sudden yelled as he slammed on the brakes almost putting his partners face into the dashboard out of surprise. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR YOU MORON?!" he roared back "YOU TRYIN TO KILL US?!" "We're losing crates out the back" he responded as the man in the passenger seat turned around and saw the various crates scattered on the road behind them in the mirror of the truck. "what the heck happened?" he asked as the two exited the truck and began walking back. "You don't think..Hurry and check to make sure the girl is still in there!" he yelled as the two made it to the back and opened the door to a unexpected surprise.

Two men looked up in horror to what they had found. Standing the back of the truck was a young man holding the girl they had captured in his arms with a look of pure anger on his face. They looked down and saw a Pikachu standing next to him with an equally angry look on its face. "W-who the heck are you?!" The driver of the truck stammered. The young give him the angriest look ever and said "you two just made the biggest mistake of mistake of your lives" with a tone of venom that made the driver shake a little with fear. "Pull yourself together you fool!" the other man yelled "its just some stupid kid, and besides we still have our secret weapon.." he smiled devilishly as a Amoongus snuck up behind the young man in the truck. "Take this you little punk!" he yelled as the mushroom pokemon prepared to release its stun spore. The attack never came as like a flash a frog pokemon leaped out of the shadows and struck Amoogus with a powerful aerial ace attack, knocking it out in one attack. "You were saying?" the young man replied with an angry smirk on his face. The two looked on in shock as their pokemon was defeated so easily. "Pikachu your turn..." he said to the mouse pokemon next to him as its cheeks sparked with electricity. The next ten seconds we're arguably the worst for either man in their lives. When it was over they both lay on the ground knocked out shaking.

Ash looked on at the two men and scowled. He would have given them even worse even not for the honey blonde in his arms. Serena was his more important priority she needed treatment which meant it was time to get out of there. Ash looked down at the girl who's eyes had opened and smiled. "You ready to get out of here?" Serena smiled back and said "Yeah.." as Ash jumped off the truck and carried Serena into the nearby forest...


	8. Chapter 8 Her Hero

**Writer's Note: Hey everyone I'm back with another chapter here. Once again I'm back with another chapter and hope all enjoy it. Thanks again for all the follow and favorites and reviews. This continues to be a lot of fun for me, I'll get on the next chapter ASAP!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 8

"Her Hero"

Ash raced through the forest at a reckless pace ducking and diving between trees and branches trying to go as fast as possible. "Just hang on Serena.." he said to the honey blonde girl he was carrying in his arms. "I'll have you back safe in no time at all" as his flashed her one of his signature smiles. Serena simply nodded her head weakly and smiled and then rested it back on Ash's shoulder as Ash, Pikachu, and Frogadier continued to sail through the forest.

Back at the truck groaning could be heard as the passenger of the vehicle began to regain consciousness from Pikachu's thunderbolt attack. "Mmmpphh" he groaned as he looked around to see said pokemon was nowhere to be seen. His eyes then widened in realization that the young man who attacked them was gone, along the young woman who they had taken. He immediately turned and saw his partner was still out from the attack and began to shake him. "WAKE UP!" he yelled hoping to get a response from the man. "DAMN IT WAKE UP!" he roared again as the driver of the vehicle finally began to stir.

"Ugggghhh.. wha-what happened?" he said as began to look around at the mess their truck left behind. "Get your head back you idiot!" the man now standing over him yelled "That kid is gone and he got the girl!" he then wound up and punched the driver across the face. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" he yelled as he prepared his fist for a counter-attack. "You said that girl was alone!" his partner yelled back "she didn't look alone there!" "That's the first the time I ever saw that guy!" the driver retorted. "She must have left him at the pokemon center or something!" he admitted realizing maybe his stealth skills weren't so great after all. "Get on the phone and call for backup!" his partner then yelled at him again. "We gotta them before they get back to Starview Town or this whole operation is a bust!" "I'm on it!" the driver yelled as he ran back towards the front of the truck.

After running through the woods for about twenty minutes. Ash came across a small creek in a clearing and ran up to it and stopped. "Ash why are we stopping?" Serena said weakly as Ash looked around and then down at the young woman in his arms. "Serena your health is most important to me right now." Ash said as he carried her over to a nearby log and sat down still holding her in his arms. Serena looked on in confusion as Ash took his free hand that wasn't holding her and released Hawlucha and Fletchinder from their pokeballs and then looked at the now four pokemon who stood before him. "Okay guys we're gonna take a short break." "I need all of you to spread out and take up a scouting position and alert me if you see anyone coming towards us ok? His pokemon all cried in acknowledgement and took off to keep watch.

Ash then gave a sad smile to Serena who continued to look at him with a confused look on her face before he finally spoke. "Sorry about this" he said causing Serena to raise her eyebrows in confusion before she faintly felt a hand entering her coat pocket. She then saw it was Ash's hand that had pulled her portable map out of her pocket before he spoke up again. "I"m sorry..I didn't wanna invade your personal space, but your map is probably the best chance we have of getting back to Starview Town right now." Ash finished as understanding finally gripped Serena and she soothed back "It's ok Ash I'm never uncomfortable around you" she smiled and began to blush, which didn't go unnoticed by Ash who also began to blush.

Ash the pulled the map and began to survey where they were and find the best way back into town. "we're in luck Serena" he said to the performer "This creek runs to a river which goes all the way back to Starview Town." "All we have to do is follow it and we'll get back no problem" he smiled as he closed the map and returned it to Serena's coat pocket drawing another blush from the young woman.

Ash then used his free arm to sling his backpack off his shoulders and set it down in front of the two before opening it to reveal a medium sized plastic case which he pulled out and placed on Serena's lap. "what's that for?" Serena asked as Ash took a quick around them to make sure they we're still both safe before looking back at her. "Like I said, your health is most important to me right now" Ash smiled as he opened the case revealing a small supply of various medicines and berries. Clemont always carried most of the medical supplies in his backpack since it was quite large, but Ash always kept a supply on his own person in case he was ever separated from the group and needed them.

"Stun spore can very dangerous to a human if they remain under its effects too long" Ash said drawing a scared look from Serena. "The longer it remains in your body there's a chance its effects could become permanent..." Ash finished as Serena's eyes widened with horror. "Y-you mean I could stuck like this forever!?" she screamed as Ash immediately took his hand off the case and put it on Serena's face. "Look at me!" Ash said as Serena eyes were filling with tears and she was trying to compose herself. "That's not going to happen to you I promise!" Ash said with a look of determination on his face. For some reason seeing the look in his eyes calmed Serena and she simply nodded as Ash reached into the case and pulled out a handful of small red berries from it. "These Cheri Berries will help start getting the stun spore out of your system until I can get you back to town and get you some real help." He then placed the berry in Serena's mouth since she couldn't do it herself, drawing a smile and a blush from the performer. When she bit down the berry the smile quickly vanished and was replaced with a large frown. Ash saw the look and sadly smiled at her. "I know how much you like sweets, sorry I know how spicy and bitter these are but you gotta eat them Serena..please" he said as she swallowed the first and Ash placed the second in her mouth. After about 5 minutes Serena was able to struggle through and eat all the berries before Ash pulled a bottle of water for her drink. "Sorry about that" he said as Serena drank the water grateful that it was over for now.

Back at the truck four men on flying pokemon descended upon the truck the two men were at and found them anxiously awaiting their arrival. They had already cleaned up the crate mess and we're prepping the truck for departure when the cry of a flying pokemon drew their attention skyward.

Three men in Orange Suits hopped off of three Fearow and walked up to the two men with no expressions on their faces. "What are you guys doing in uniform?!" the driver of the truck exclaimed. "What happened to keeping ourselves hidden." "Circumstances have changed.." a voice from above said as a man in a white suit descended on a Noivern and stepped in front of the other three. "Administrator?! what are you doing out here?" The driver exclaimed as the man in white walked up to him. "Well by the looks of things we have a situation to cleanup" he said quietly and with an evil smile on his face. Getting right to the point he said. "Now tell me which way did they go?" He asked drawing a sad look from the two men. "Well truth is we don't know..." the driver said drawing a cross look from the admin. "You see we were ambushed by this guy and his pikachu!" "His thunderbolt knocked us out before we saw them leave.." he finished as he put his head down in shame.

Turning around the admin looked at one of his underlings. "Hand me my map please" as the grunt walked up and handed him a electronic map. After studying the map for a moment the admin looked up and smiled. "I know exactly where they went" he said drawing a look from the trucks passenger. "Where sir?" he said "He's trying to get her back to Starview Town right?" the admin said drawing a nod from both men. "The quickest way back is to follow this river here, follow that river and find them easy as pie." he said as he addressed everyone standing before him now. "Leave the truck here we're all going after them, we must stop him from getting back to Starview Town at all costs understood?" All of them saluted in reply and took off. _"Well mister pokemon trainer let's see how you handle Team Flare..." _he smirked as he mounted his Noivern and took off into the sky.

About 10 minutes of silence had passed between the two since Serena had finished the berries Ash had given her. Serena seemed to be feeling better a tiny bit, but she noticed as the minutes went by Ash started looking more and more upset. "Ash" Serena asked finally breaking the silence. "What's wrong?" she asked causing Ash to look down at her. What she got was an unexpected shock. Ash's face no longer had a warm smile or sense of joy in his eyes. He looked distressed almost to the point of breaking down and crying. In all her time past and present with Ash she had never seen him look like this before.

"Ash" she asked again desperate to get something from him. "You can tell me anything I swear" she begged him "If it wasn't for you I'd still be trapped going who knows where, you saved me." she said with a warm smile and a blush. Sadly the words she hoped would cheer him up only broke him and pushed him over the edge. "I-I'm so sorry S-Serena" he managed to stammer out as a tear ran down his face. "Sorry for what Ash?" She responded unsure of what had Ash so distressed. " I should never have you let go out by yourself." he said as another tear fell from his face.

Serena couldn't believe it. Ash was blaming himself for what happened to her. "Ash no!" she shouted back wishing she could move her arms to embrace him and help soothe him, but couldn't. "You didn't do anything wrong it wasn't your faul.." "I PROMISED TO PROTECT YOU!" Ash shot back completely interrupting Serena. She'd never seen him yell like this before, especially at her. She wanted to respond but the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth. "I made you a promise when we started traveling together that I would always protect you and keep you safe!" the tears we're flowing freely from Ash now, all the pain and anger he kept inside him all night was rushing out of him now. "So I let you go out by yourself after dark completely unprotected and you get kidnapped!" "Some gentleman I am!" he sobbed as the nightmare of Serena whispering in his ear telling him she would be okay just kept playing over and over again his head torturing him.

Serena couldn't bear to watch this anymore. Ash was beating himself up for nothing, he had done nothing wrong. He was a hero for saving her. Not just any hero but her hero. She may not have been able to move her arms but that didn't deter her. With all the strength she had she lifted her head up from Ash's shoulder and brought her lips to his cheek kissing him.

Ash immediately froze when he felt the soft lips against his cheek. They were even softer than he thought they'd be. He felt as though her lips we're healing him, cleansing all the pain he was carrying with him in one soft kiss. Her strength finally failed and her face began to fall from his, but he gracefully caught it with his free hand and looked into her beautiful sapphire eyes. "Serena I don't understand.." was all he managed to get out before she interrupted him. "Ash don't you get it?!" she yelled "You didn't fail me!" "What happened tonight was horrible but it wasn't your fault!" she said as tears began to run down her face. "I can only imagine what you went through to find me, I'm sure it wasn't easy and it pushed you to your very limits." "But you did find me, I knew you would" she gasped for air between tears and sentences. "You never give up Ash!" she cried "Its one of the many reasons I love you!"

"You love me?" Ash said with a look of semi-shock on face. Serena couldn't believe what she had just said. Sure it was the truth, but to confess her feelings to him like this? She wanted to try and come up with some kind of excuse saying that's not what she meant but mentally slapped herself for even thinking that. She was done with hiding her feelings from Ash anymore, no matter how he felt in return. She had to step out into the light and face it. "Yes Ash I love you so much" she said with all the affection in voice she muster. "Ever since we were little I think I always felt like I had some sort of feelings for you." Ash looked on in silence as she continued. "When you helped me in that forest I felt like one of those princesses being saved by her knight in shining armor, you may have thought you were just being nice but it meant the world to me." Serena just let all her emotions flow out of her unable to contain herself anymore. "I was miserable everyday I had to train to try and be a Rhyhorn racer, but then out of nowhere you came riding in on your white horse back into my life and saved me from that!" Serena's heart had burst at this point she wasn't holding anything back anymore. "And then tonight when I thought I was gonna lose you and everything good that came into my life, you save me again." "You could never fail me Ash, never" she finished as she tilted her head to rest it in his palm with a content smile on her face.

Ash just stared at Serena with a blank look on his face. He knew he had feelings for her and he kinda had a hunch that Serena may have felt something for him as well, but he never would have imagined that Serena's feelings for him went that deep. Truth be told the more Ash thought about it, this journey was a lot different than the others he had been on. This was the first journey where Ash was the oldest and most experienced of the group. Before now he always had someone older that him he could occasionally look to for guidence on his travels when things went awry. Now he was that person. Clemont, Bonnie, and especially Serena looked to him when things got rough or they needed something. It was becoming more and more clear to Ash as this journey progressed. His feelings for Serena just cemented it. He was growing up and Serena was the next big step he was going to take on his journey. Not only to become a pokemon master, but to have someone besides his pokemon he could share it all with. That concept would have been foriegn to Ash even six months ago. But thanks to Serena and this current journey, a whole new potential was being unlocked in him. He just needed to do one thing.

"Serena" as said softly as the honey blonde girl's eyes opened up to meet him. "I was planning on telling this when you got back to pokemon center earlier tonight, but now is good too" he said with smile as Serena's eyes filled with hope. "These past few weeks I've been noticing things have been a lot different between us" he began "Occasionally I'll find myself staring at you or thinking about pretty you are and I like that feeling it gives me." Serena was blushing like crazy now she couldn't believe what Ash was saying but couldn't bring herself to interrupt him. "When I was walking back into the pokemon center tonight after training it all hit me." "Serena you inspire me so much, if not for you I would never have gotten as far as I have in Kalos so far, your support makes me feel invincible." Serena just smiled as her eyes glistened in the moonlight. "I know now that I feel the same way you do for me Serena, I love you too."

Serena gasped. _"Did he really just say he loves me?" _she couldn't believe it, after all this time her dreams were coming true. She had poured her heart out to Ash and he felt the same for her. "Oh Ash.." she said as tears of joy fell down her face. Ash kissed Serena on the forehead and hugged her. "Where do we go from here?" he asked as he looked down at her beautiful face. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out...together." Ash just smiled and brought his face towards Serena's. "Sounds perfect Serena." Both their eyes began to close as their faces came inches apart..."FLETCHINDER-FLETCH-FLETCH!" The pokemon's cry ripped Ash away from Serena's face and he spun around to see his Flying type soar out of the trees in a rush towards them. Ash then looked down at Serena who had a worried look on her face. "They're coming..." he muttered.


	9. Chapter 9 I trust you

**Writer's Note: Hey all I'm back with another chapter! Sorry for the long wait but I ran into some computer problems which put me down for a couple of weeks. But I'm and hoping to get back at this now that I'm up and running again. Thanks again for all the follows, favs, and comments and enjoy chapter 9!**

Chapter 9

"I trust you"

The look of sadness and fear on Serena's face was enough to make Ash's heart shatter, he finally had her back and they had admitted their feelings to one another and were about to kiss only for it to be ruined by Serena's attackers return.

Ash had already put the medicine kit back in his backpack and was standing with Serena in his arms when his other pokemon returned to him from the forest. Relief washed over him as they must have heard Fletchinder's cries and returned to him. The last thing Ash needed right now was to try and round up his pokemon with an unknown enemy bearing down on him from who knows where.

"Ash" Serena said quietly as she looked up to Ash with a worried look on her face, he simply looked down at her with a warm smile "Don't worry no one is gonna lay on hand on you ever again" he said as he kissed her forehead again. He didn't know why but for some reason he liked kissing Serena's forehead as way of comforting her. Guess it was just natural now for him since they told each other their feelings. It seemed to do the trick as Serena's look of worry was replaced with a smile and she rested her head back into his shoulder causing Ash to blush slightly.

Returning his thought's to the situation at hand Ash had a choice to make, stand and fight or make a break for Starview town. Thanks to Serena's map he knew that he had to just follow the creek to the river that led to Starview town so getting lost was not a worry. On the other hand he was also confident he could easily beat up the two jerks who attacked Serena again. Although he wasn't sure if it was just them. If they called in backup he could find himself against seven to eight people, which could mean he would be up against a potential of forty eight pokemon to his four. Goomy was brave and would surely fight for him, but this wasn't a good time to work on its strength. Ash didn't think he'd be able to think take on forty eight pokemon with just four until he looked down at Serena in his arms and mused at the idea that maybe he could take them all on if it meant keeping her safe, but decided he'd rather not find out.

"Ok you four, here's the plan" he said addressing his pokemon who now stood before him. "We're gonna make a break for Starview Town, we'll follow this creek until we reach a river which will lead us back to town ok?" All of his pokemon nodded in agreement as Ash continued. "I have a feeling those guys who attacked Serena are going to come after us, they may even have backup so we gotta be ready." "I know I've never asked this of you guys before but I think we're gonna have to fight this battle on the move. I'm gonna give you guys free reign to battle as you see fit since as we run as I may not be able to give you all commands while we're moving ok?" His pokemon all cried a cheer of determination, they may never have fought like this before but we're ready to give it their all for Ash and Serena. "Ok then remember guys not careless, but not too careful either" he said as he looked down at Serena "ready to get going?" he said as she gave him a big smile and blushed "you bet!" she said with most gusto she had since he found her.

Just as Ash turned to run two Fearow burst from the treeline and two men in Orange suits jumped down and landed near Ash and Serena. Pikachu's cheeks sparked and Ash's other pokemon all took up a battle stance. "Who are you guys?!" he shouted at the two men who stood before him. "You really caused us a lot of trouble tonight young man" one of the men said drawing a narrow eyed glare from Ash. _"They did call for backup.." _he cursed to himself as not to worry Serena.

"You shouldn't involve yourself in matters that don't concern you young man" the other man said. "The minute your thugs kidnapped Serena it became my concern!" Ash shouted back "Serena is the most important person in the world to me, your fools if you think I'd ever let something bad happen to her!" Serena looked up at Ash with a shocked look on her face. Sure he had confessed his feelings to her, but to hear him call her the most important thing in the to world to him filled her heart with so much joy at that moment. She really was the luckiest girl in the world right now.

"Well its clear how you feel about her" the first man said "if your not going to turn her over then I guess Team Flare will have to do without her" he said drawing a look from both Ash and Serena. "Team Flare?" they both said but before they could say anything more the second flare grunt threw a pokeball into sky revealing a Golbat. "Wing attack!" he yelled as the bat pokemon's wings began to glow white as it dove right for Ash and Serena. It didn't get even close as it was enveloped in a thunderbolt attack courtesy of Pikachu and crashed to the ground knocked out. "Pika!" the yellow mouse roared at the two team flare grunts as if it was challenging them to attack again.

Ash saw that as his opening as took off running down the creek. Pikachu and the other's following suit. "Grrr Golbat return!" the flare grunt yelled as he returned the fainted pokemon and the two grunts jumped back onto their Fearow. "After them!" they yelled as the two Fearow took of into the sky after them.

Ash was running like he had been possessed by spirit of Suicune. He didn't know if it was adrenaline or his desire to keep Serena safe but he didn't care. Getting tired wasn't an option right now, there would be time for being tired when Serena was safe.

Since Ash was on foot it didn't take long for the two grunts riding on Fearow to catch back up to him. "You really think you could get away that easy!" one of the grunts yelled as the Fearow began a dive towards Ash and Serena. "FRO!" Frogadier yelled as turned from group and launched a barrage of its signature frubbles into the sky at the Fearow. "FeeeeeAARR!" the two bird pokemon yelled out in agony. Like an anti aircraft attack it was only a matter of seconds before the two Fearow and grunts we're covered in frubbles and crashed into the ground in a heap. Frogadier smirked and took off back after the group. "THIS ISN'T OVER!" one of the grunts yelled as Ash swiftly carried Serena down the creekside chuckling to himself. _"It was over the minute you took Serena from me."_

After what seemed like about fifteen minutes of running Ash saw his first welcome sight of the run. The creek began to flow into the river he was looking for. _"Halfway home" _he thought to himself as he made the right turn to begin to follow the river. "We're almost there Sere.." his sentence was stopped as all of sudden a flamethrower attack ripped through the trees and Ash immediately stopped and turned his body to shield Serena from the flames. "Ash!" Serena cried out as he gritted his teeth from the pain of the flamethrower hitting him the back. The attack came from a Houndoom which emerged from treeline with a snarl on its face.

Seconds later another pokemon launched out of the treeline and made a spinning beeline for Ash. "Montop!" the spinning pokemon yelled as it closed in on Ash's back for a crushing a spinning kick while Houndoom prepared a Fire Blast attack. "FLECHINDER!" a ear splitting cry was heard as the bird enveloped itself in flames like a phoneix and crashed into the Hitmontop sending the fighting type sailing into a nearby rock knocked out. Houndoom wasn't fazed by this however and continued it's attack..."LUUUU-CHHAA!" The fighting type came out of nowhere with a flying press attack smashing the Houndoom into the ground with the super effective attack. When the dust cleared Houndoom was also knocked out.

"T-thanks you two.." Ash muttered as he was able to get back to his feet. Seeing the pained expression on his face Serena cried out "Ash are you okay?!" "I-I'll be fine Serena, are you ok?" he said seemingly only caring for her safety. "Yes I'm fine, but I wasn't the one hit by that flamethrower." Although she was still weak her nose picked up the unmistakable smell of a burn on his arm. "Ash your burned!" she cried out and struggled weakly in his arms in an attempt to see his arm. "Serena its ok it's not that bad." he said with his signature toothy grin, while silently cursing himself for letting his guard down for that brief second. "Ash you need to treat that wound or it could it get infected!" she begged again hoping he would at least wrap his arm up for the time being. "There isn't time we gotta keep moving, I'll patch it up when get back to town." "But Ash!" she was quickly cutoff as two more men in orange suits emerged from the treeline walking towards Ash and Serena.

"Well young man your quite the tough one aren't you?, standing up my Houndoom's flamethrower like that" he sneered as he saw his pokemon laying on the ground knocked out. While silently returning his pokemon to its pokeball the other grunt spoke up. "Face it kid no matter much you run and fight you and your girlfriend aren't going to make to Starview Town, why don't just make it easy and give up? We promise we'll make your deaths quick!" he snickered.

What happened next left the two grunts speechless for a moment. The look in Ash's eyes showed nothing of fear, fatigue, or even pain. All that was there was fire. "I'm going to tell you both this so you better listen and listen good." Ash started in a tone that caused men to raise an eyebrow. "Serena needs me and I promised her that I would always protect her and be by her side, so you go ahead and send your entire organization after me because nothing you do will ever harm her so long as I'm here!" he shouted at the grunts drawing even a gaze of surprise from Serena.

The grunts both looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. "HA you gotta be kidding me you little punk!" "There's no way some kid like you is any match for team flare!" the two men then finished laughing and looked at Ash with confused looks on their faces. The kid was smirking?! "Suit yourselves" Ash said, but before the grunts could respond Ash was off down the river like a rocket with Serena in his arms. "Get back here you coward!" The two could yell as Ash was already long gone.

Ash ran for almost another twenty minutes without incident. There were no more attacks and it seemed the Team Flare grunts were no longer after him and Serena. "Ash you were incredible" Serena said with affection as she looked up at Ash who looked back down at her with a big smile. "I can't believe you we're able to beat up those grunts and.." her words were cut short as Ash came to screeching halt all of a sudden. Serena turned her head to see why and gasped. The two were at the edge of cliff which had a large waterfall falling almost thirty to forty feet into a lake below. She could also see something else, lights!

"Ash! do you see what I see?" the performer said with joy in her heart. "I sure do, Starview Town." "We finally made it Serena." He said as the two looked at each other with warm smiles and blushed. They had been through so much together tonight and now they could finally get back to town and get Serena treated and get some rest. "Hmm, now we just gotta find a way down there.." Ash muttered to Serena as he began to look for way down the cliff into town.

The waterfall poured down into a lake which then fed a river which flowed right into Starview Town and out to the ocean. "We'll I guess we'll have to walk around until we find a way down Serena." he said as he turned towards the waterfall again. "I'm afraid not young man." A voice said politely from behind causing Ash and his pokemon to whip around to see its source. Needless to say it wasn't friendly.

"I must congratulate you on dispatching my men, most impressive young man." the man said drawing a glare from Ash. He was dressed similar to other grunts except his suit was white instead of orange. The man then cast a gaze at Serena causing her to lean into Ash a little tighter. "I must say my dear you are one lucky young lady to have someone to go through all this trouble for you, but I guess young love truly does make people fools." "Serena's never a burden to me, your the fool pal!" Ash shot back as he tightened his hold on Serena as way of telling her "I'm here" to her.

"Well I admire your determination young man, but this where the chase ends..." he said with a sadistic smile as he threw six pokeballs into the air. Ash's eyes widened at what he saw. Appearing before him was a Noivern, Rhyperior, Mightyena, Alakazam, Scizor, and Ninetales. Ash gritted his teeth, this guy was no pushover like the other's. His pokemon had been running and fighting for a while now and even at full strength this would be a tough fight.

Outnumbered and cornered Ash's mind raced as to think of a way out of this mess. He knew staying and fighting would most likely end in disaster so he crossed that off mentally. That left running, but there was nowhere to go..._"unless.." _He mentally pictured what was behind him and went over the scenario in his head. _"If I jump we can probably lose him long enough to make it back into town, but..." _Ash's gaze fell back to the honey blonde in his arms. He had no idea how deep that lake was down there and the river after the lake was flowing very fast out to the ocean. If he lost his grip on Serena when they hit the water, she would for certain sink to the bottom of the lake and possibly even get swept away in the current of the river.

Serena looked up into Ash's eyes for a brief moment and realization hit her. Even though they only recently opened up their feelings to one another she knew what he was thinking of doing just the look he was giving her. His plan was daring, crazy, reckless, and frankly Ash. She loved that about him, how he was always so fearless and determined but also saw a small hint of doubt in his eyes as well.

_"I know your worried about keeping me safe Ash" _she thought as she quietly whispered to him without even moving her head up "Do it Ash, I trust you" causing the little bit of doubt to vanish from his eyes as he leaned down and kissed her forehead again and smiled at her. "I'm right beside you" he said in a whisper of his own as the Flare Admin frowned at their behavior.

"Saying your goodbyes?" he laughed as the two trainers looked back at him, both with a look of determination on their faces. Ash didn't respond to the admin and simply stared at him for a few seconds before saying only two words. "Volt tackle." The admin's eyes widened as all of a sudden the Pikachu that was beside the boy raced towards his Noivern at lighting speed, it body was enveloped by electricity as it crashed into the giant bat like pokemon causing a massive explosion blowing dust and smoke everywhere.

Seeing as that was his opening Ash looked down at Serena and smiled at her. Serena smiled right back giving Ash the last bit of inspiriation he needed. Without a word Ash, holding Serena tightly in his arms turned and jumped...


	10. The most beautiful girl in the world

**Writer's note: Hey everyone I'm back with another chapter! Been a good week for writing wise so I was able to put this chapter out. It's a little shorter but I still like how it came out. There's still more to come to thanks again for reading and be on the lookout for the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 10

"The most beautiful girl in the world"

Ash wrapped his arms around Serena as the two fell towards the lake below them. He knew full well that if he lost his grip on her for even a second she could drown in the lake because she could barely move. _"I won't lose you" _the trainer thought powerfully to himself as the lake approached them.

The drop was only about ten seconds but to Ash it felt like ten hours. He had already in his mind taken so many gambles on Serena's life tonight, he just prayed fate would shine on them one more time. SPLASH! Ash and Serena hit the water feet first and went towards the bottom like a missile. The force of hitting the water was enough to knock Serena's fedora from her head and cause her to take in a mouthful of water. Ash quickly regained his senses underwater and looked over with relief to see that he still held Serena tightly in his arms. His relief quickly turned to horror as he saw the honey blonde with a pained look on her face and struggling desperately for air.

Ash used all his power to kick towards the surface. The fact he was kicking for both him and Serena greatly slowed their progress and it was hard for him to see the surface due to the darkness of the night but he just kept kicking. _"Just a few more seconds Serena, please hang on.." _he begged in his thought's as all of sudden Serena's eyes slowly closed and she stopped struggling. "NO!" Ash yelled out under the water as finally broke the water's surface and looked around in panic for the shore...

"Pika-pi!" a voice yelled causing Ash to swing around to see his beloved partner standing on the shore next to Frogadier and Hawlucha. "Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he quickly kicked over to the shore and picked Serena up out of the water and walked a few steps before laying her gently down on the ground in front him before kneeling down to her face.

"Serena please breathe!" he begged as he opened her mouth and began to breath into it to try to revive her. After breathing for her for a few seconds he tried to push on her chest a few times before going back to breathing for her again. "Pika-pi.." Pikachu muttered with a scared look on its face while Ash went back to pushing on her chest again unable to notice the small mouse at the moment. "Please Serena...please breathe" he said on the verge of tears as he once again brought his mouth to hers.

_"Please no.." _Ash sobbed mentally as it had been almost a minute since he began to try and revive her. Every second that passed now was like a dagger in Ash's heart. The longer this went on the less of a chance there was Serena would wake up. _"I can't lose you Serena.." _he moaned in his mind. They we're so close..not only so close to Starview Town but they we're also so close to starting their future together. It was the cruelest joke ever for Ash, to go through all this to lose Serena right at the end. "Serena.." the tears began to fall as Ash knew that Serena's time had most likely run out.

*Cough* ugh *Cough* Ash's eyes widened in shock as all of a sudden a burst of water came out of Serena's mouth and she began to choke violently. Ash never thought in a million years he be happy to hear the sound of Serena choking but it was like music to his ears at this moment. "Serena!" he exclaimed as he lifted her up into a seated position and began to pat her back to help relieve her choking.

After about fifteen seconds Serena's coughing died down and she was finally able to start breathing normally again. "Serena thank goodness your alright I was so scared!" he said with joy as she turned to him and gave him a weak smile. "Ash" the performer said softly as she somehow found enough strength to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him. Ash didn't even hesitate for a second and immediately hugged her back. "I thought I lost you for a second there." Ash said quietly as a couple more tears made their way down his face. Serena broke away from the hug and took a deep breath before speaking. "Ash there was no way I was gonna leave you after everything you did for me tonight, I love you so much Ash." "I love you too Serena.." he said with a weak smile before the two looked at each other briefly before bringing their faces together to do what they wanted to do earlier.

The moment their lips touched it was like a million fireworks went off all over the world at once. It certainly wasn't the first kiss Serena had fantasied about. They were both soaking wet and Serena was sure if she looked in a mirror right now she would probably think she was a total mess, but it was still as electric and somehow as perfect as she always hoped it would be.

Ash couldn't help but feel like he had just kissed an angel when he felt Serena's lips touch his. They were so soft, just like Serena's face and hands were. Ash assumed that she was soft everywhere, it just fit Serena. However he knew inside that the honey blonde was probably dreading how she might look right now so after breaking the kiss he looked at her and smiled. "Your so beautiful Serena."

"Oh Ash" she giggled lightly "that's really sweet of you to say but I'm sure I look like a complete disaster right now." She said with a sad smile knowing she probably looked like a girl who had just been through hell in one of those horror movies she hated. "Your so wrong Serena.." Ash said with a smile as he brushed a lock of her soaked hair behind her ear and cupped her face with his hand. "Serena you hair could be a total mess and you could be covered head to toe in mud with tattered clothes on and I still would think your the most beautiful girl in the world." he said as he flashed her his signature toothy grin.

Serena was so taken back by his words all she could do was blush madly and mutter out "A-Ash." Ash then looked behind her and began to chuckle drawing a look from Serena. "What's so funny Ash?" she said with a disappointed look on her face. "Look behind you" Ash said still chuckling "looks like Frogaider found something during his swim." Serena turned her head towards the frog pokemon and immediately began to giggle. Standing there was Frogadier with a serious look on its face while on the top of its head sat a familiar pink fedora. It was absolutely classic.

"I didn't take you for being a fashionable one Frogadier" the performer said as the group began to laugh drawing a blush from Frogadier who then swiftly handed the hat to Ash try and end it's embarrassment. "T-there we go" Ash said in between laughs as he placed Serena's hat back on her head. "Perfect" he said with a smile to honey blonde before turning his attention towards his Pokemon. "I don't know how to ever thank you all for what you did tonight" he said with a tear in his eye. "I'll never be able to repay all you. Pikachu, Frogadier, Hawlucha, Fletchin...der?" Ash blinked again and noticed the bird pokemon wasn't with the other three. "Any of you see Fletchinder after we jumped?" Ash said with a concerned look on his face. His pokemon all shrugged and shook their heads as if to say they didn't have a clue as to the flying type's location.

"Fletchinder!" Everyone's eyes suddenly turned to the sky as if on cue the flying type descended from the sky and landed next to Ash's other pokemon. "Fletchinder there you are! We were worried about you what happened?" Ash pondered to the bird pokemon as it pointed its wing back up the top of the cliff where they had jumped from.

"Wait a second.." Ash muttered as he looked down at Serena before his eyes widened in realization. "What happened to that Team Flare guy? Surely he should have came after us by now." Ash said drawing a frown from Serena. Fletchinder began to speak before making various motions as if it was trying to tell Ash something. It then pointed to the forest east of them.

*Moments after the jump*

Smoke was still billowing around the Team Flare admin as result of Pikachu's Volt tackle. "*cough* You won't *cough* get away with this!" the admin said as the smoke began to clear. When the dust finally settled the admin looked around and saw five of his pokemon gasping for air from all the dust kicked up. His sixth pokemon Noivern was on the ground knocked out. "You pay for that sneak attack young man!" he said with anger as he returned the fainted flying type to its pokeball. He then turned to face the young man and noticed he wasn't standing before him anymore. They were gone! "Where did they go?!" he yelled as he and his pokemon began to look around for them. "Nine!" the elegant fox pokemon yelled out as it pointed its snout towards the treeline. "It's the young man's Fletchinder! They must have used the smoke as cover to make a break into the forest!" he watched as the bird pokemon descended into the trees. "Quick after them!" he yelled as he and his pokemon darted into the forest. Without his Noivern they would be forced to search on foot for the young couple now..

*present time*

"Oh I see now you led them into the forest on purpose Fletchinder!" Ash cheered realizing the that they could finally rest easy now. By the time the admin realized what really happened Ash and Serena would already be back in Starview town. "That was really clever Fletchinder thank you!" Serena giggled causing the bird pokemon to scratch the back of its head in embarrassment. "Alright then." Ash said as he scooped Serena back into his arms and looked down at his pokemon. "Let's go home!" he said drawing a smile from Serena and a huge cheer from his pokemon. With that they began the short walk along the remainder of the river into Starview Town.


	11. Chapter 11 Silent Thoughts

**Writers note: Hey all another chapter in the books. I hope your all still enjoying this book and I still appreciate all the follows, favorites and reviews. Hoping to get another chapter up this week time permitting, anyways enjoy chapter 11!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 11

"Silent thoughts"

The two flare grunts disguised as Far'Fetched shipping workers had finished picking up all the debris in the road and we're ready to go when all of a sudden a familiar face in a white suit emerged from the forest. It wasn't long after the other 4 grunts also came out of the woods behind him.

"Administrator!" the one man yelled as he approached the vehicle. "I take it you took care of those brats then?" he added as the admin walked up to them and chuckled making him breathe a sigh of relief. "No on the contrary my friend" he began causing them both to raise an eyebrow. "That single young man and his four pokemon dispatched all my grunts and then led me on a wild goose chase through these woods." the two disguised workers were at loss right now. "It was most impressive, I clearly underestimated his skills and his mind." "I would never had thought he'd be bold enough to jump off a waterfall with that girl still under the effects of your stun spore. They truly trust each other with the other one's life, its a rare quality my friends these days..to find someone you trust completely like that.." the admin then tilted his head up into the sky lost in thought.

"we have to go after them!" One of the grunts yelled "Yeah we can still stop them!" another yelled as the group began to rally itself for another attack. The admin simply shook his head and smiled. "Its too late my friends, they're already back in Starview Town by now. I'm sure Officer Jenny already knows what happened and has deputies patrolling the streets by now." "No my friends this operation is over, time to pull out our undercover agents and regroup."

Both of the disguised workers lowered their heads in shame at the admin's words. One of them eventually spoke up. "We failed you administrator. Our deepest apologies." he said weakly. The admin turned to the men to speak but before he could the other disguised worker spoke up. "We both volunteer to go into Starview Town and eliminate them! Even if we get caught the message will be sent that no one messes with Team Flare and gets away with it!"

"Gentlemen come now" the admin said calmly "that would be pointless, we're not looking to make a name for ourselves...yet." "But sir surely they're gonna tell the police about us and.." "And what?" the administrator interrupted. "They tell the police and what? Nothing. She has nothing, she can do nothing" the admin said with an evil smile.

The grunts all smiled after hearing the admin's words. He words were true, no one had even heard of Team Flare up until this point. Even if the young trainers told Officer Jenny about them the very most she could do is put out a warning about them. They still held all the cards at this point in time.

"Tonight was merely a setback" the admin said addressing all of the men now. "We'll regroup underground for now and grow our forces there." "But what about the boy and girl sir?" one grunt asked. "That young man in an exceptional trainer I have no doubts our paths will cross again. When that time comes we'll get our chance at retribution." he said drawing a small cheer from his men. "For now sent out call sign forty four to all agents in the field." _"We'll meet again young man I assure you" _he smiled to himself..

Officer Jenny took another sip of her coffee and sighed as she once again stared out the window of the Starview Police station. Some would say she really drew a winner when she was assigned this town. However for her sometimes, alright nearly all the time it was just plain boring.

Starview Town was the picture of a model town. Clean streets, great people and practically zero crime to speak of. Sometimes she wondered why this town even required a police force. Most nights like tonight she would just send the deputies home and catch the occasional nap during the night shift. Her trusty companion Manectric would alert her of any trouble on the off chance it happened.

It was about Two thirty in the morning when Jenny had once again dozed off into another nap. She dreamt of fighting crime in the big city and getting as much praise as some of her other cousins had received throughout the kalos region. All of sudden a nudge at her leg awoke and she saw Manectric there poking at her with its snout.

"hmmpph...what is it Manectric?" she said with a yawn as the discharge pokemon motioned for her to look at the window. Jenny pulled herself up and looked out the window and gasped. Walking into the town was young man who looked to be in his mid teens flanked by four pokemon at his side. In his arms she saw he also carried a young woman who also appeared to be in her mid teens. The two humans and pokemon looked like they had been through a terrible ordeal.

Jenny threw her hat on and raced out of the police station with Manectric by her side towards the two humans, upon reaching them she could see the young man had injuries and the young woman looked like she couldn't stand even to save her life. "What happened to you two?!" Jenny shouted as she placed a hand on the young man's shoulder who looked up at her with concern.

"Serena was kidnapped on the strip tonight." he said drawing a wide eyed look of shock from Jenny. "WHAT KIDNAPPED!?" she yelled as she looked down at the honey blonde in the young mans arms who had both a look or worry and sadness on her face. "Please she needs a doctor right away" the young man said "her attackers sprayed her with large amount of stun spore. I was able to give her a small amount of Cheri berries but she still needs help." "what about you uhh..young man sorry I didn't get your name. Those look like some pretty bad burns on your arm and back." Jenny said causing the honey blonde in young mans arms look to turn even more sour.

"I'm Ash Ketchum from pallet town, and don't worry about me I'll be fine Serena needs the help more than I do right now." He said as looked down to the girl in his arms giving her an "I'm okay" look. The performer relaxed and smiled and rested back into to his shoulder. _"They must be an item." _Jenny mused as she turned towards the pokemon center. "I'll call the town doctor right now, I'll have her meet you at the pokemon center!" Jenny said as she turned to run into the police station. "One more thing" Ash said causing Jenny to turn back around. "There's chance that her attackers are coming here after us, I'd be careful." he said drawing a smile Jenny. "Don't worry Ash my deputies and I can handle that you get your girlfriend to the pokemon center!" she said with a wink and ran inside.

Ash stood there for second as the word Jenny just used had taken him back a little. _"Girlfriend..." _he thought to himself. Sure he told Serena he loved her, he just hadn't even given any thought to that until now. "Ash is something wrong?" a sweet voice said bringing him back to his senses. He looked down at Serena and smiled. "No...everything is fine" he said with a smile as he carried Serena towards the pokemon center.

The doors swung open to pokemon center to reveal...nothing. The place was a ghost town and Nurse Joy wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Maybe she's asleep.." Ash muttered as all of a sudden footsteps could be heard from the hall leading up to the desk. It wasn't Nurse Joy but her trusted companion Wigglytuff. "Wiggly?" it said with a confused look on its face. Clearly it wasn't used to people entering the center at this hour. "Wigglytuff can you get Nurse Joy? Serena needs help right now.." he said as he looked down at the honey blonde in his arms. Wigglytuff spotted the girl and gasped before turning and scampering down the hall as fast as it could.

About a minute later Nurse Joy emerged rubbing an eye and yawning. "Oh my goodness what happened to you two?!" she cried as she ran up to get a closer look at Serena. "It's a long story, short of it is that Serena was kidnapped and sprayed with a large amount of stun spore. She needs a doctor right away Officer Jenny said she would be sending one over." "Dr. Silverwind isn't here yet but I assume she's be here shortly." Nurse Joy said "In the meantime let's get her into the ICU so she there for when Dr. Silverwind does arrive."

No sooner had Nurse Joy spoken the words, Wigglytuff appeared with a stretcher and pushed it up to Ash. He gently laid Serena down on the stretcher and turned to his pokemon. "You all were incredible tonight. I can take it from here why don't you get some well deserved sleep." he said as he returned the three to pokeballs and then handed them and Pikachu to Wigglytuff. "If you don't mind Wigglytuff?" he said drawing a smile from Wigglytuff. "Wiggly!" it said with a smile as it walked down the hallway with his pokemon. "Pika" Pikachu said weakly as it waved to Ash. "Goodnight buddy sleep well and thanks for everything." Ash said as he waved back.

With that done Ash turned towards the doors of the pokemon center. "I'm gonna go check with Officer Jenny and make sure everything is okay." Ash said as he began to walk towards the door. He didn't get far as a hand weakly grabbed his causing him to stop and turn around in surprise. He then saw Serena looking up at him pleading eyes. "Please don't go.." she said as a couple tears made their way down her face. "Don't leave me here please Ash." The sight of her face was just about enough to break Ash's heart. After musing about for a second he realized that Jenny could handle things outside and this is where he really needed to be right now.

Ash took his hand and wiped the tears from her face before kissing her on the cheek. "I'll never leave you Serena, Jenny can handle things outside. I'll stay right here with you" drawing a look of relief and joy from the performer. "Thank you" she said as Nurse Joy began to push the stretcher down the hallway. Ash walked along side the stretcher holding Serena's hand the entire way to the ICU.

The ICU wasn't the largest seeing as it was a small pokemon center but needless to say it would serve it purpose. Serena couldn't even fit on the table, she have to stay on the stretcher while she recieved her treatment from Dr. Silverwind, as soon as she got there...

"Hello are you all in here?" a sweet voice said from out in the hallway. "Yes we're in here Doctor!" Nurse Joy responded from the ICU. Moments later a woman in her late twenties walked in the room. She had beautiful long dark brown hair and eyes that we're a stunning silver. If Ash wasn't so in love with Serena he may have had to pick his jaw up off the floor. "Hello I'm Dr. Amanda Silverwind, its a pleasure to meet you both." she said with a sweet a smile drawing both a look of a shock from Ash and Serena. "Your the d-doctor?!" Ash stammered out. "Yes I've been here for about a year now since I graduated medical school, I love it here in Starview Town." she said drawing a simple nod from Ash. "Well I'm Ash and this is Serena."

"So what seems to be the issue Miss?" she said as she walked over Serena and began to look her over. For some reason Ash felt complied to speak for Serena. "She was kidnapped by a group of thugs tonight who sprayed her with stun spore." Ash began. "Oh that's awful!" said looking down at Serena with both a look of shock and worry. "I was able to give her some Cheri berries after I found her but I think she more help than what I was able to give her.." the trainer continued as Dr. Silverwind listened on. "Also she almost drowned on the way back here..." Ash said in a mumbled tone. He hated bringing up that incident again but he would go to any length to make sure Serena received the best care possible. "She lost consciousness for almost a minute and stopped breathing. I was able to revive her but I just wanna make sure she's okay." Ash finished looking at Serena with a sad smile.

"Don't worry Ash I promise I'll give Serena the best care possible, she's really lucky to have a boyfriend like you who is so concerned about her." she said with a sweet smile causing both Ash and Serena to blush. They still had some getting used to those titles. "Ash also has burns on his body!" Serena said drawing a look from Ash. "Its ok Serena I'll be fine let Dr. Silverwind treat you for now, your the priority." Dr. Silverwind smiled at the two's banter. _"Oh yeah definitely a new couple the concern they have for each other is adorable." _"Please call me Amanda" the doctor said sweetly. "And don't worry Serena I promise I'll be sure to look over Ash's burns as soon as I get you treated okay?" Serena smiled sadly and looked over at Ash. "Okay."

"Good, now Ash why don't you down the hall quick and take a shower and get yourself cleaned up while I check out Serena? I'm sure a hot shower would do yo wonders right now." "Yeah sounds like a great idea Doct...er I mean Amanda." he said with a chuckle as stood up from the stool next to Serena's stretcher. As soon as he rose he saw the expression on Serena's face begin to sadden and immediately cupped her face with his hand. "Don't worry I'm just going to grab a quick shower, I promise Amanda and Nurse Joy won't let anything happen to you." he said as he kissed on the forehead and smiled at her. "Okay please hurry back" was all the honey blonde sad with a sad smile as Ash turned and walked out the door towards the bathroom.

"He really means a lot to you doesn't he?" asked Amanda drawing a sad smile and a couple tears from Serena. "I thought I would never see him again tonight, but somehow against all the odds he saved me." Serena said with a tearful grin as even Amanda couldn't help but get a small tear in her eye from watching Serena. "I'm sure he's thinking the same thing right now" Amanda said as they both looked to the doorway Ash had walked through.

Ash turned the water on and stepped into the shower letting the hot water run down his body. Although the burns on his body made the hot water sting at times he still found it very soothing. Serena was on his mind the entire walk down the hallway and into the shower, but at this moment in time and perhaps the first time tonight in the shower his mind and thoughts were truly silent...


	12. Chapter 12 I'll always be by your side

**Writers Note: Hey everyone I'm back with the latest chapter in the book. This was the longest chapter in the book by far and I have to say I really enjoyed how this chapter came out. I'll probably be wrapping this story up in another chapter or two before I decide on writing a sequel to this or writing a new Amourshipping story. Either way guys enjoy this chapter and I'll be back with the next chapter soon!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 12

"I'll always be by your side"

_"Ash where are you?" _Serena whined to herself as she glanced at the clock on the wall. It had been almost twenty minutes since he had gone to take a shower, and needless to say Serena wasn't taking the wait very well. _"What if those Team Flare guys got him?!" _she panicked in her mind as she struggled to try and get up from the stretcher she was laying on.

As soon as she tried to stand her legs immediately buckled underneath her and she fell to the floor taking the stretcher down with her making a loud crash. Upon hearing the crash Amanda and Nurse Joy came racing into the room to find Serena laying on the floor and the stretcher on its side.

"Serena!" Amanda yelled as she and Nurse Joy ran over to her and tried to help her back up. "What happened are you okay?!" Amanda said as Serena looked up at her with a panicked expression and tears flowing down her face. "Ash! where's Ash!?" she screamed as Amanda looked at her in shock and tried to calm her down. "He should have been back by now where is he?!" she yelled as she continued to sob into Amanda's shoulder.

"Serena I'm sure he's fine, you both went through a lot tonight. I'm sure he's just trying to compose himself and collect his thoughts in the shower." the doctor pleaded just trying to calm Serena down. "What if those men who kidnapped me came back and took him?!" she yelled again as Amanda turned to Nurse Joy who had a worried look on her face. "Serena please calm down this isn't good for you!" Nurse Joy pleaded as the performer continued to struggle and sob in Amanda's arms.

"Serena please if you don't calm down I'm going to have to sedate you!" Amanda yelled as all of a sudden Ash came in the doorway pulling a t-shirt over his head. "Amanda whats going on? I heard a crash and...Serena!" he yelled as he saw her on the floor crying and ran over to her.

"Ash!" the honey blonde screamed as she got free of Amanda's grasp and threw her arms around him. "I was so worried!" she said as she continued to sob into his chest. "I kinda zoned out standing in the shower and lost track of time. I'm sorry Serena...I'm here now everything's okay." he said as he stroked her hair trying to soothe her.

After a couple of minutes Serena finally began to calm down and Ash was able to pick her up and put her back on the stretcher. "There we go! Good as new!" he said to her with a toothy grin grabbed hold of Serena's hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm so sorry Ash." Amanda said sadly. "We went down the hall to get Serena some medicine for the stun spore and it took us longer then we thought." "When we came back she was laying on the floor crying, she must have tried to go and find you." she said as she bowed apologetically to him and Serena. "Serena we shouldn't have you by yourself after what you went through tonight. It must have been terrifying for you..I'm truly sorry."

"Its alright no harm done." he said as he turned to Serena and gave her a mischievous smile. "You couldn't even give me twenty minutes in the shower..really Serena?" he said a laugh that caused the honey blonde to blush. "I was really worried about you, I thought maybe those men came back and kidnapped you. I guess I kinda overreacted...I'm sorry Ash and I'm sorry to you two as well" she said as she turned to Amanda and Nurse Joy, who both had smiles on their faces as well.

"It alright like Ash said no harm done." she with a smile as she walked over with and IV rack with two bags of a red colored liquid hanging from them. "Now that we have that behind us what do you say we get you treated okay Serena?" Amanda said as she wheeled a cart over towards the stretcher with several medical tools on it. "This will help you feel much better Serena.." the doctor said as she began to unpackage several of the items on the cart.

A long tube, bandages and other items were now laying on the cart as Amanda unpackaged the last item and Serena's eyes widened in horror when she saw it. _"Oh no not a needle.." _she said to herself. "Everything okay Serena?" Ash asked when he saw her expression. "I'm scared of needles Ash.." she said with a whisper to him and Amanda turned around rubbed the inside of her elbow with a alcohol pad before turning back to the cart for the needle.

"Now you'll probably feel a slight pinch Serena when I.." Amanda said turning around only to find Serena with her face buried in Ash's chest shaking. "Serena what's wrong?" the doctor as Ash gave her a sad smile. "Serena's got a fear needles." he said as rubbed her back. "Its okay Serena I'm right here. If it'll help you just stay right where you are and I'll hold you." Ash said as he gently took her arm and began to extend it so Amanda could put the IV in.

Serena tensed up for a second, but after feeling Ash's soft touch she allowed him to extend her arm and relaxed a little. "All done Serena!" Amanda said surprising Serena as she hooked the first bag up and the red liquid began to flow into Serena's body through the IV. "What is that stuff Amanda?" Ash said as he gently laid Serena back down the stretcher and began to stroke her hair again, much to Serena's delight.

"Its a Cheri Berry serum." Amanda said as she began to clean up the various wrappers from the medical supplies she used. "Its made from the same Cheri Berries you gave Serena earlier." "This will just be a stronger and much more effective dose as it'll go right into her bloodstream." "If all goes well you should be able to walk again on your own after a good night's rest!" she said with a smile, drawing a smiles and looks of relief from both Ash and Serena.

"Thank goodness" Serena sighed as Ash gave her a toothy grin again. Needless to say she was worried sick she may never had been able to walk again. How would that have effected the rest of her life? Would Ash really be able to love a girl confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life? She then looked up at Ash and mentally slapped herself. _"Of course he would" _she said she felt his hand continuing to stroke her honey blonde hair. _"This is Ash we're talking about. Knowing him he'd carry me in his arms for the rest of his journeys." _she gushed at the thought of her in his strong arms again.

Ash noticed the blush on her face and got a worried look on his face. "Amanda come quick I think something is wrong with Serena!" he said as the doctor turned around and came to her side, snapping Serena from her daydream. "Her face is all red what if she's having a bad reaction to the serum?!" Ash yelled as Amanda looked Serena over gave a small giggle causing Ash to raise an eyebrow. "What?" Ash said making Amanda laugh a little more.

"Ash I don't think you have anything to worry about" Amanda said laughing as she turned to Serena. "Right Serena?" After looking at both Amanda and Serena for a second realization dawned on Ash. "A romantic daydream Serena..really?" he said as he shot her a angry smile for making him worry and causing her blush only more. "S-sorry" she said meekly "I was just thinking about you carrying me in your arms is all." The performer said causing Ash to blush a little himself. Serena then leaned over and kissed his cheek while Ash simply wrapped his arms around her. _"They're adorable.." _Amanda chuckled as she looked on.

It was a truly a great relief for Serena. All this time she would always have to keep these feelings and daydreams bottled up inside her because she couldn't let them out. Now that she and Ash had their feelings out in the open, she didn't have to lie or make up lame excuses anymore. She could finally let her affection for Ash come out. And she had plenty to spare.

After about thirty minutes Serena had taken both of the bags of the serum and Amanda was finishing up taking the IV out of her. "Ash could you do me a favor and hold this gauze on Serena's arm for me?" Amanda said as she removed the IV from Serena's arm and began to cleanup. Ash gently held the gauze on her arm making sure she didn't bleed from the IV while Amanda looked Serena one last time.

"Alright everything looks good Serena, why don't I have Nurse Joy take you down the hall so you can have a nice shower and freshen up before bed?" the doctor said with a smile while Nurse Joy wheeled in a wheelchair for Serena. The honey blonde mentally admitted she could really use a shower right now, but then looked at Ash and got another crestfallen expression on her face. "What about Ash? Your not going anywhere are you?" she said as she looked up to him with worry on her face.

"Don't worry Serena he's gonna be right here with me. I have to treat his burns remember?" the doctor said with smile as Ash gave her hand a squeeze and a look of "It's gonna be okay." Serena decided this was acceptable and Ash gently placed her into the wheelchair before Nurse Joy pushed her down the hallway.

"Now then Ash what do you say we have look at those burns?" Amanda said as he took his shirt off and sat down on a stool as the doctor looked him over. "Okay well luckily they aren't that bad a little burn cream and a couple bandages and you should be just fine." the doctor said as she began to apply the burn cream to his arm and small section of his lower back that had a burn on it. "Thanks Amanda" the trainer said as he gave her a smile, but Amanda could tell it was very forced.

"Something wrong Ash?" the doctor said as she began to wrap his right arm in a bandage. "I'm just worried about Serena." he said as Amanda now finished on his arm and the applied a rectangular bandage to his lower back covering the small burn he had there. "Your sure she's okay Amanda?" the trainer asked as he looked to her with pleading eyes.

"Ash I can assure that after thoroughly looking her over she's going to be one hundred percent physically okay." the doctor said with a hint of worry in her voice. It took a second but Ash noticed the words Amanda had used. "Wait a second you said physically okay..is something else wrong?!" he said with worry in his voice.

"Ash I'm not a psychologist but I can tell that whatever Serena went through tonight has left her very traumatized." the doctor said sadly. "That's something that I can't help her with and isn't probably gonna heal itself anytime soon." she said with a look of sadness on her face.

Ash looked down at the floor with guilt and remorse realizing that Amanda's words were true. Serena sense of safety was shattered tonight by Team Flare and who knows how long it would take her or if she would ever truly feel completely safe again after tonight. "What do I do Amanda?" "I just want her feel safe again, I don't want to see her beautiful smile vanish because of tonight." He said as he made a fist in anger and began to grit his teeth.

Ash then stood up and walked over to the wall and placed a hand on it with his head hung low. "All you can do is be there for her Ash and make her feel as safe as possible." Amanda said as she looked over at the pokemon trainer who seemed to be lost in thought. As hard Ash tried to fight it and remember Serena's words he just still couldn't completely forgive himself for letting her go out tonight by herself.

Then there was those two goons who grabbed her. _"why? Why did they take Serena? She's so soft and gentle why would anyone do that to her?" _he muttered to himself as the anger began boil inside him. _"She would never hurt anyone or anything..Why her?!..WHY?!" _His rage finally boiled over completely and he drove his fist into wall as hard as he could and sunk to his knees in anger crying.

"ASH!" Amanda screamed as she ran over to him. There was now a fist sized hole in the wall where Ash had struck it and his hand was now bleeding from the hit. "Ash why would you do that?!" the doctor as she saw his bleeding hand. "I HATE THEM!" he screamed at the top of his lungs drawing a wide eyed look of shock from Amanda as looked on at the look of anger and pain in the young pokemon trainers eyes.

"Hate who?" the doctor asked back as she tried to look at his hand. "TEAM FLARE!" he yelled again as he ripped his hand away from and continued to let all his built up emotion pour out on the floor. "Why would they do that to Serena?! She would never hurt anyone! Why Amanda?! Why would they do that do her?..." he said as he finally broke down and began to sob on the floor. Not knowing what else to do Amanda just simply brought him into an embrace and rubbed his back trying to soothe him.

"I don't know Ash...I don't know." the doctor said again as she continued to rub his back. "Ash.." a sad voice said from behind causing him to turn around and frown. There sitting in a wheelchair was Serena with an upset look on her face and an equally distressed Nurse Joy behind her. Serena was sitting there in a purple nightgown fresh out of the shower. If Ash wasn't so upset right he would have probably told her how cute she looked in it.

Nurse Joy had just started wheeling her back towards the ICU when Serena had heard Ash's yelling. She immediately was somehow able push herself down the hallway back to where Ash was. She had heard it all. His anger, pain, sobbing all of it. Needless to say when she saw him like this it broke her heart. Here was Ash the love of her life sitting on a ICU floor broken because of what Team Flare had done.

Ash looked at the hole in the wall and then back at Serena before he lowered his head in shame. He wasn't sure how much Serena had seen but he was sure she had seen enough of it. "I'm sorry for that Serena" he said to the honey blonde. "I shouldn't have lost it like that, I need to be strong for you right now." he said as all of sudden he felt a soft hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Serena's beautiful blue eyes looking back at him.

"Ash you don't have to apologize to me" she said sweetly as she ran her fingers through his hair. "You have every right to be upset, goodness knows I am." she said as she took his bleeding hand into her's and kissed it. "Just promise me you won't punch anymore walls tonight okay?" she said with a small giggle as she rubbed his hand.

"Okay deal" he said defeated. "I'm sorry about the wall Nurse Joy.." he said now addressing the nurse as she simply shook her said with a smile. "Ash I think you two have been through enough tonight, the wall can be fixed its no problem." Amanda then walked over and took his hand from Serena's drawing a sad sigh from the performer and began bandaging it.

"There all fixed." Amanda said with a smile as Ash stood up and bowed before the doctor. "Now then I think you two probably want to get some sleep." Amanda said as they all looked up at the clock on the wall which read three-thirty. "I'll come back tomorrow to see how Serena is doing okay?" "Sounds good thanks from the bottom of our hearts Amanda and you too Nurse Joy." Ash said as he grabbed his and Serena's backpacks and walked up behind the wheelchair she sat in.

"Sleep well you two" Amanda said and the two trainers left the ICU and walked down the hallway towards their room. "Room number one" Ash muttered as he looked at the number on the key Clemont had given him earlier. "Here we are" he said as he unlocked the door and pushed Serena into the room before turning the lights on.

When the lights came on Ash and Serena were immediately confused. "Uh Ash does this look right to you?" Serena said as the two looked over the room they just walked into. In the center was a massive king size bed with beautiful decorations surrounding it. On the far side of the room was a gorgeous coffee table with a large sofa next to it. There was also a large chandelier hanging from the center of the room over the bed. Scattered throughout the room we're various lamps, decorations, and paintings on the wall of various places in kalos on the wall.

"Didn't Nurse Joy say our room had two beds?" Ash said as he scanned the room. "Ash I think this is the Royal Suite" Serena said as they went inside and closed the door behind them. "I think your right but how?" Ash said as he mused to himself how could had happened. It was then that he remembered Bonnie crashing into Clemont and him dropping the keys on the floor.

"Oh think I know what happened" Ash said with a chuckle as he told Serena about Clemont's unfortunate mishap. "Guess he gave us the wrong key" Serena laughed as Ash hung up her fedora and red jacket on the coat rack in the room before hanging his own hat and jacket next to it. "I guess it can't be helped" Ash said as turned over to Serena who was attempting to stand up next to the bed to get in it.

"Woah Serena!" he said as he ran over to her "let me help you" he said as he attempted to help her up. "It okay Ash I wanna try to stand" Serena said back drawing a unsure look from Ash. "Just at least take my hand then ok?" Ash asked. Deciding that was a fair compromise she slipped her hand into his before standing up out of the wheelchair. Her legs wobbled a little, but thanks to Ash support she was able to stand briefly before gracefully falling onto the bed.

"S-see" she said between panting "no problem." "Yeah you were great" Ash said as he pulled the covers over her and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight Serena" he said sweetly as he turned the lights out and began to walk over in the direction of the sofa. "Ash where are you going?" Serena asked as Ash turned gave her a toothy grin. "You get the bed Serena, I'll be fine on the sofa." he said as he laid down and pulled a blanket over himself. "Sweet dreams Serena" the trainer said as he closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep. "Y-you t-too." Serena muttered as she pulled the covers over herself tightly and closed her eyes.

After about twenty minutes of laying on sofa, Ash simply wasn't comfortable. Although the sofa itself was great, the feeling of the bandages rubbing against his shirt were driving him crazy. He finally got fed up and pulled his shirt off and threw on the ground near the sofa, just leaving him in his black sleep pants before he laid back down and shut his eyes. _"Phew much better" _he thought to himself.

Meanwhile Serena wasn't faring much better. It had been almost forty five minutes since she went to bed and she couldn't fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was that awful man chasing her down the alley or the other man closing the crate over her head. The visions were so bad they brought her tears once again. She sat up in her bed as looked over and saw Ash laying there with his eyes closed. "Ash.." she said quietly as pulled the covers off herself and slowly tried to walk herself over to the couch.

Ash laid there with his eyes closed but was unable to sleep. His mind was racing as a million questions plagued it. Who was this Team Flare? And what did they want? He had encountered his fair share of both criminals and criminal organizations in the past, but this Team Flare was very different. Most of them simply had the same goal of getting rich or ruling the world. But these guys didn't seem to want either of those things. _"What are you after?" _Ash thought to himself _"And why did you need to kidnap Serena in hopes to accomplish it?" _

"A-Ash?" A sweet voice said as Ash opened his eyes and looked over before they widened in shock. There standing before him was Serena. Her legs were shaking badly and she had tears running down her face. "Serena!" Ash said as he shot off the couch like a rocket and helped her to sit down on the couch. "What wrong? Did something happen? Why are you crying?" he asked. Seeing her so upset just shattered his heart.

"Y-Your over there on the couch Ash and I'm over t-there on the bed" Serena said sadly as tried to hold back more tears. "And I don't wanna be alone tonight..I wanna be with you Ash." she said as she looked at him with a pleading face.

At first Ash was lost. She wasn't alone he was right here in the room with her. Then after thinking about it for a second he realized what she meant by it. _"Your a dense idiot sometimes you know that Ketchum.." _he said to himself as he simply turned to Serena before picking her up into his arms and carrying her back over the bed. He almost let out a gasp when he felt the fabric of her nightgown against his chest but kept it to himself.

_"It's soft I should have known" _as he smiled to himself _"everything about her is so soft and gentle" _he thought. He walked around to the far side of the bed and gently laid Serena down before walking around and climbing into the other side and laying down himself. He barely was able to pull the covers up before he felt Serena wrap her arms around him and snuggle her face into his chest.

"I know your scared Serena." he said as he stroked her hair. "But I promise you I'll always protect you." "You'll never be alone Serena I'll always be by your side." he said gently as he brought her face to his and kissed her. "Just close your eyes" he said lovingly "I'll be right here." Serena didn't even respond. No words were needed from her right now. She just gently returned her head to his chest smiling and closed her eyes...


	13. Chapter 13 Now you have it

**Writers Note: Here's chapter 13 everyone, I figure this story will wrap up in another chapter or two. We'll see how it plays out. Thanks again for all the follows, favs, and reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 13

"Now you have it"

It was a little after eight the next morning when Clemont awoke from a restless nights sleep. Dreams of terrible things happening to Ash and Serena and worry for Serena's well being had pretty much kept the gym leader up all night.

_"Well I guess this is it." _Clemont thought as he quietly walked down the hallway towards the lobby of the pokemon center. _"I sure hope you found her Ash..."_

When Clemont got to the lobby he found a discouraging sight. Standing there was Nurse Joy talking to Officer Jenny with a worried look on her face. At Jenny's side was her faithful companion Manectric. Clemont could also see a deputy standing a little bit back from the group and saw another two standing outside the pokemon center. He also noticed a young woman standing next to Jenny and Joy who looked to be in her mid twenties. Clemont help but notice her beautiful silver eyes and stunning appearance. _"She's really pretty." _he said with a blush before mentally slapping himself and walking over to them.

"Um excuse me Officer Jenny?" the gym leader asked as the police woman looked at him and gave him a not so inviting frown. "Young man I'm sorry but we're in the middle of an investigation. So I going have to kindly ask that unless it's really important I would please wait for now." she said causing the gym leader to lower his head for a moment in defeat before he remembered his promise to Ash and got his courage back.

'It's very important!" he said back almost yelling as the three woman all turned in shock to him at his outburst. "I need to know, one of my friends went missing last night and another went looking for her. Their names were Ash and Serena, can you please tell me if they came back last night?"

"You know Ash and Serena?!" Officer Jenny exclaimed. "Yes I promised Ash last night that if he didn't make it back with Serena I was to have Nurse Joy call you." he said drawing a raised eyebrow from the police officer.

"Why would you wait if your friend was kidnapped?" Jenny said as the gym leader's face turned white. "K-K-Kidnapped?!" Clemont yelled in horror. "Your telling me Serena was kidnapped?!" "Wait you didn't know?" Jenny asked with a confused look on her face.

"No.." Clemont said sadly as he came down from the shock. "We didn't know what had happened to Serena last night when Ash took off to find her. All we knew then was that Serena didn't come back here and that something must have happened to her...but this" Clemont said sadly as the three woman all glanced at each other with sad looks on their faces.

News of Serena's abduction spread quickly around Starview Town that morning, and needless to say everyone was quite shaken by it. Although Jenny tried to convince everyone that things were safe and there was nothing to fear, she could easily tell that people were still on edge.

"I can tell you that your friends did make it back here last night safely." Officer Jenny said as relief washed over the gym leader. "Thank goodness.." Clemont sighed. "Tell me are they hurt? Are they okay?"

"Your friends are going to be fine" A sweet voice Clemont didn't recognize spoke for the first time. "Ooops!" she stammered for a second "I'm sorry we haven't met yet, I'm Dr. Amanda Silverwind but you can me Amanda" she said she shook his hand. "I'm Clemont it's a pleasure to meet you Amanda."

"As I was saying then your friends are going to be fine. Ash suffered some minor burns and Serena was sprayed with a large amount of stun spore, but I expect both to make a full recovery. All they need is rest now."

Sighing relief again Clemont asked Amanda. "What time did they get back?" "Well by the time I treated them and they went to bed it was probably around Four in the morning." the doctor replied as Clemont quickly eye balled the clock to see it said about eight thirty.

"Best thing we can for both of them is let them rest." Amanda said softly as Jenny and Joy both nodded in agreement. "Understood." Clemont said with a smile before addressing Jenny again. "So you have any idea who is responsible?" "Well right now all we have is..." "CLEMONT!" a young angry voice shouted causing the gym leader to cringe and turn around slowly.

Standing behind Clemont was a very angry looking Bonnie. "What gives big bro?!" the seven year old shouted. "You promised we could sleep in the royal suite! Why I did wake up next door?!" "De-ne-ne!" the small mouse shouted as well.

"Bonnie please lower your voice" the gym begged trying to shush his little sister. "Why?!" the seven year old spat back. "You still haven't explained what happened."

"Bonnie please your gonna wake up Ash and Serena! They need to rest!" the gym said before realizing his error. That immediately got Bonnie's attention. "Why do Ash and Serena need rest?" the young girl said before she noticed Officer Jenny, Manectric and all the officers standing inside and outside the pokemon center.

"What's going on Clemont?" Bonnie now said quietly with worry on her face. "Bonnie I need to tell you something." he said as he walked her over to a booth and looked at his little sister.

"Bonnie I lied to you last night." the gym leader said drawing a confused look from his sister. "What do you mean?" she said back. Clemont hated to have to tell her but he know she would find out sooner or later so he decided it was best if she heard it from him.

"Bonnie last night when I told you Ash went to help Serena carry all her bags back...that wasn't the truth." Bonnie's look worry turned to dread as she began to realize where this was going. "Ash went out find Serena last night because she never came back to the pokemon center. I just found out from Officer Jenny that the reason Serena never came back was because she was..k-kidnapped."

Clemont was surprised his sister didn't freak out at his words. In fact she was completely silent. Finally she broke the silence weakly. "Kidnapped?" she said almost like she was in denial that it had happened.

"Yes Bonnie kidnapped.." Clemont said sadly as he looked to his sister who finally snapped at her brother. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she said angrily as tears began to fall from her eyes. "Dedenne and I could have helped! We could have.." "That's exactly why I didn't tell you!" Clemont said in a very stern tone that shook his sister and caused her to immediately stop talking.

"Ash was worried enough about Serena, the last thing he needed was having to worry about you too!" the gym leader scolded her causing her to bow her head in shame.

"Is Serena okay?" the little girl finally asked sadly as soft hand grabbed her shoulder. "Serena is gonna be just fine" a sweet voice said as Bonnie turned around to see a very pretty woman with silver eyes smiling at her.

"I'm Amanda and I'm the one who took care of Serena when Ash brought her back. Your friend is gonna be just fine." the woman said sweetly causing Bonnie to smile. "Your a doctor then?" the little girl asked causing Amanda to smile and blush a little. "Yes I've been working here for about a year since I graduated medical school."

"Your a keeper then!" Bonnie exclaimed as knelt down and extended a hand towards Amanda. "Please marry my brother!" drawing a wide eyed blush from the doctor. "M-M-Marry?!" she stammered out.

"Bonnie!" Clemont said with a massive blush of his own. "I've told you a million times to stop doing this! Its so embarrassing!" He said with a frown as he sulked into the booth. "Come on Clemont she's perfect! She super pretty and a doctor! She'd make an ideal wife!" the seven year old boasted proudly.

"She's also too old for me, no offense Amanda." he said as he bowed apologetically to her. "It's alright none taken. It's nice to see you have a younger sister who cares so much about you. Reminds me of my younger sister." Amanda said with a smile.

"You have a younger sister?!" Bonnie exclaimed. "If she's like you Amanda she's gotta be a keeper! Can you introduce her to Clemont for me He's hopeless on his own."

"Bonnie please.." Clemont moaned as Amanda began to giggle. "Well Bonnie tell you what if my sister expresses any interest in trying to find herself a husband I'll be sure to steer her your way." Amanda said with a smile as Bonnie let out a cheer. "Hooorrayyyy! See big bro there is still hope for you after all." Clemont just sighed and lowered his head in defeat...

It was about ten thirty in the morning as the sun began to peek through the curtains of the royal suite. It slowly made its way over to the bed where a young couple were peacefully sleeping. The sunlight finally hit the closed eyes of the young man causing him to stir.

He opened his eyes and squinted briefly before his eyes adjusted to the sunlight. "Morning already..." he muttered as he glanced out the window. He was just about to pull the covers off when felt something soft on his chest.

Ash looked down and gasped for a moment as he thought he saw and angel for a second. _"Not an angel, but she's as close as you can possibly get." _he thought with a smile as looked at the honey blonde sleeping on his chest. She had sweet smile on her face as she softly breathed in and out. _"She's so cute.." _he mused as he silently scolded himself for not telling her his feelings sooner. All the troubles and pain that plagued him the night before seemed to evaporate as he looked at her sleeping peacefully.

As he laid there he thought back fondly to when Serena first came back to into his life and how big of an idiot he was for not remembering her. Then he started to think back to the way Serena would act around him when they traveled. The compliments, blushes and sense of wanting to learn from him and be near him all finally clicked and made sense to Ash.

_"Man how could I have been so blind.." _he chuckled to himself as a few seconds later he felt Serena begin to wake up. She wasn't facing the window so her eyes weren't affected but the sunlight. They just slowly opened before they made they way up to Ash's and she got a big smile on her face.

"Hi" Ash said softly as he gave her a big smile back. "Hi" she sweetly replied, neither of them knowing what quite to say at the moment. After a few moments Ash began to stroke the small of her back with his hand that he had wrapped around her. "Did you sleep okay?" he said as the performer smiled before she tightened her grip on him. "That's the best I've ever slept." she softly replied drawing a surprised look from Ash.

"Really?" Ash said not knowing what else to say. "Yeah I got to spend the night with you..I've never been happier in my life." she said as a small tear made its way down her cheek which Ash promptly wiped from her face with his free hand. "I've wanted this for so long Ash."

"Now you have it." he said as he brought his lips to hers and kissed her gently. "Sorry for making you wait so long." he said with a sad smile as he withdrew from her. "It was worth the wait." Serena said back with a smile that showed nothing but complete joy and happiness. "I wouldn't change this for anything."

Ash then quickly glanced over at the clock by the bed and saw it read eleven o'clock and yawned. "We'll I guess we have get up." he said sadly "I'm sure Amanda wants to give you a checkup, not to mention Clemont and Bonnie are probably worried about you too." he said as he continued to stroke her back. "Not mention all our pokemon are worried about us too I'm sure, and your probably starving!" he said with a toothy grin which caused Serena to giggle a little.

"Alright then.." Ash said as he took his right arm reached for the covers hanging over the side of the bed. "Ash?" he stopped reaching as he turned and looked back at Serena.

"Yeah Serena?" he said as the honey blonde smiled at him. "Can I ask you a favor?" she said sweetly as Ash smiled back at her. "Of course what is it?" he said unsure of what she wanted.

"Can we...stay in bed for a little longer...please?" she said with wide pleading eyes and arguably the cutest smile Ash had ever seen from her. He really wanted to check on his pokemon and get Serena something to eat, but the way Serena was smiling at him was just too much for him to say no to. Besides, he was really enjoying this too and wasn't in a hurry to let it end either.

"Alright" he said with a warm smile as he laid backed down and wrapped his left arm around Serena's lower back, pulling her back into him. "Thank you" she responded happily as she brought her lips down and kissed his chest, right where his heart was before resting her head there and giving a content sigh.

"Anything to make you happy Serena." he said as he kissed her forehead and the two snuggled into each other before falling back into a quiet nap...


	14. Chapter 14 Love her

**Writer's Note. Here's Chapter 14 everyone! Been keeping up the best I can with work and all. We'll see where the end of this story comes to fruition. Appreciate all the follows and favorites!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 14

"Love her"

Ash's eyes opened again as he awoke for the second time today. He glanced over at the clock next to the bed and smiled. _"One-thirty already, guess we were pretty tired." _he chuckled to himself. He then looked down and smiled at Serena still fast asleep on his chest with a smile on her face.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* a light knock at the door took Ash's attention from the honey blonde and towards the door. _"I wonder who that is?" _he muttered to himself as he gently slipped out of Serena's grasp and gently laid a pillow under her so he didn't wake her.

_"Maybe Amanda is here to check on her." _the trainer muttered to himself as he walked to the door and opened it quietly as possible. Upon seeing the man at the door Ash got a large smile on his face.

"Gunther!" he said in a hushed tone as shook hands with shop owner who had helped him last night. "What are you doing here?" Ash asked. "I'm here to give you this Ash." the man said as he handed Ash and envelope with a massive amount of pokedollars in it.

"Your bike!" Ash gasped as he recalled leaving the bike in that parking lot on his to save Serena the night before. "Not to worry Ash, one of Jenny's men found the bike last night where you left it and brought back to me without a scratch." the shop owner chuckled as he handed Ash the envelope.

"So we're all square then you and me." the man said as he snuck a peek into the room and saw Serena peacefully sleeping in the bed. "I'm so glad you we're able to find her." Gunther said with a smile as turned back to Ash. "I wouldn't have if it wasn't for you Gunther." Ash said as he placed a hand on the man's should smiling. "I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Love her." the man simply replied. "Love her and cherish her." Gunther said as he looked out the window. "It's not too often we find someone so perfect for us so young. But when I look at you two I see a perfect match." he said as he turned back to Ash.

"Your young and brave Ash, willing to go to any length to protect those who mean the most to you." "I can also tell your excitable and full of life." the shop keep said with a chuckle. "That's why Serena is perfect for you."

"What do you mean?" Ash said confused. He barely knew Gunther but somehow he was able to describe him perfectly. "Serena is sweet and gentle, she has an inspiring and calming effect on you am I right?" Ash was still perplexed but simply nodded in agreement.

"You two remind so much of my wife and myself." he said laughing. "Except our roles are reversed. She was always the excitable one, full of passion and a desire for being the very best." Gunther then turned around to a table and picked up a large white box with a white silk bow tied around it and handed it to Ash.

"What's this? Ash asked confused once again. "Well after you left last night I couldn't sleep, call it a mix of worry for Serena as well as a sad feeling for my career ending keeping me awake." "So I took that one hundred fifty thousand pokedollars you gave me for bike and decided to turn it into something special." the man said with a grin. "Consider it your first gift to your new girlfriend."

"I don't know what too..wait a second!" Ash stopped as realization dawned on him. "We haven't even told anyone that we're a couple yet. How did you know?" Ash said with confusion on his face as Gunther began to laugh.

"I kinda figured if you found her last night you wouldn't waste another second with her." the man said. "That and I'm pretty sure that pillow wasn't what she was snuggling all night." Gunther laughed causing Ash to look down and realize he didn't have a shirt on and turn a deep shade of red.

"Don't worry Ash your secret is safe with me, not that you have anything to be ashamed of or hide." Gunther said as he handed the box to Ash. "What is it?" Ash asked as he took the box from Gunther and inspected it.

"That's a surprise" the man said with a smile. "But I'm sure Serena will love it. And its never bad to get some early points in a new relationship son I can promise you." Gunther said laughing. "But I think its about time I head out." the man said with a sad smile. "It's time for me to get out and see that world."

"Gunther.." Ash spoke gratefully. "Once again I can't ever thank you enough for everything." Ash said as he now looked out the window. "I hope you find what your looking for out there. And if you ever need anything, you'll always have a friend in Ash Ketchum."

The man smiled warmly at Ash before speaking one last time. "One last piece of advice son?" "Sure" Ash said with a smile. He took one last look at Serena before looking back at Ash. "Cherish every moment you have with her. Because you just never know when it will be your last."

"I will Gunther." Ash said as the two men shook hands one last time before Gunther gave a wink and turned down the hallway.

Ash closed and locked the door behind him before placing the box on a table and walking back to the bed. He saw the clock read two now and smiled sadly at Serena.

"Sorry Serena" he said softly as he climbed back into bed and replaced the pillow with himself again before giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Hey beautiful its time to wake up."

After a few seconds the honey blondes eyes slowed fluttered open. She gave a small yawn before looking up a Ash and getting a big smile on her face. "I was having the most wonderful dream about us.." she said with almost a hint of sadness in her voice that her boyfriend had ended it.

"I'm sorry Serena." Ash said as he stroked her hair. "But it's two in the afternoon if you don't wake up you'll never sleep tonight." he said with a small chuckle.

"I'm sure Amanda would like to check on you to see how your doing." Ash said as he noticed Serena's mood somewhat drop after saying that. Ash realized his error almost immediately. Sure Serena liked Amanda and she helped her greatly, but it also brought all those bad thoughts of the night before back to the performer again. Serena didn't really want to go there yet. She was perfectly happy being in this room alone and safe in bed with Ash.

"Tell you what?" Ash said trying to bring her smile back. "I'm sure your hungry, how's breakfast in bed sound?" He said with the toothy grin Serena loved.

Upon hearing his request Serena got a huge smile on her face and forgot all about the bad things from last night. "I'd love to have breakfast in bed with you Ash." She said as she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"O-Okay" Ash stammered out blushing slightly. _"Wow she really got excited quick" _he mused to himself. "Ok then snuggle back into bed and I'll go see what I can find alright?" He said as he broke the hug and kissed her on the forehead.

"Okay but don't take too long alright?" Serena said sweetly but Ash could still hear the worry in her voice. _"She's still really emotional" _Ash thought to himself as he remembered what Amanda told him last night.

"I know!" Ash said surprising Serena. "Know what Ash?" she asked back, but to her surprise Ash didn't respond and simply closed his eyes and seemed to be in deep concentration all of a sudden.

After about a minute a small knock could be heard at the bottom of the door of the room and Ash opened his eyes and smiled. Serena looked on in complete confusion as Ash walked over and opened the door to reveal none other than Pikachu standing there.

"Pika-Pi!" the small mouse exclaimed as it leaped from the floor into Ash's arms hugging him. "Hey buddy great to see you how are you feeling?" "Pika!" it said with vigor and raised its fist in the air showing it was feeling great. "Awesome great to hear buddy." Ash said as the yellow rodent hopped up onto his shoulder and he closed the door before walking back over to the bed.

"Did you just call Pikachu through your mind?!" Serena asked completely flabbergasted at what had just happened. "Yeah it was something I learned from a frontier brain back in Kanto. She taught me how to sync my mind with my pokemon that Pikachu could always know what I was thinking, right buddy?" he said as he began to scratch behind the mouse's ear earning a happy coo from Pikachu.

"Okay Pikachu I have a really important job for you, are you up for it?" He said as he turned his head to his partner. "I'm going to bring back some breakfast for us, can you keep Serena company and keep her safe for me while I'm gone?"

Serena didn't know what stunned her more at that moment. Ash's connection with Pikachu or the fact that he could sense her uneasiness about being alone and went out of his way to make her more comfortable again. _"You never stop surprising me Ash" _the performer smiled to herself.

Pikachu gave a happy cry and pumped its fist before jumping down from Ash's shoulder onto the bed next to Serena. "Alright then I'll be back with breakfast soon you two!" Ash said as he walked over next to the couch and picked up his t-shirt before putting it on and walking out the door before closing it behind him. "Hurry back.." Serena said softly with a tone of sadness and worry.

Pikachu heard the sadness in her voice and turned around to see a scared look on Serena's face. It then did the only thing it thought would maybe cheer Serena up.

It walked up to her and attempted give Serena a big hug even though its arms could barely reach halfway around her stomach. Serena was snapped from her thoughts when she looked down at the yellow mouse hugging her and let a small tear out before she wrapped her arms around Pikachu and silently hugged it with a smile on her face.

Ash walked down the hallway hoping that he would still be able to get Serena and himself some breakfast. Seeing as it was after two he figured it might be a long shot. He was suddenly ripped from his thoughts when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his legs tightly.

"Ash! There you are! We we're wondering if you two were ever going to wake up!" an enthusiastic Bonnie said as she hugged him. "Hey Bonnie good to see you too." he said as he knelt down and returned her hug.

"Where's Serena Ash?" The seven year old questioned. "Is she still sleeping? Is she okay? I wanna see her!" the young girl sad jumping up and down. "Uh-Uh" Ash stammered trying to process all the questions Bonnie was bombarding at him.

"Bonnie please calm down!" a voice from behind shouted causing the blonde girl to stop jumping. Clemont walked up slowly behind his sister and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Your overwhelming him Bonnie, one question at a time!" the gym leader said drawing a huff from his sister. "Hey Clemont good to see you too." Ash said with a smile on his face.

"I took the liberty of feeding all the pokemon including Serena's." Clemont said as Ash looked past him to see all the pokemon save for Pikachu were sitting in a group eating their lunch happily. Well except for two of them.

Ash saw that while most of the pokemon we're devouring their meals, Fennekin and Pancham had barely touched theirs. Both pokemon were mostly staring out the window with a sad look on their faces, especially Fennekin.

"Ash good to see your awake." Another voice said causing Ash to turn away from the fox pokemon. "Good morning Amanda and you too Nurse Joy." He said as the doctor and Nurse walked over to him. "How's my patients doing this afternoon? You two sleep alright?" the doctor asked as Bonnie and Clemont had both listened in as well.

"Yeah we slept just fine. Serena is sitting with Pikachu right now." The trainer said. "Nurse Joy I know its late but is their any chance there is still some breakfast left?" Ash asked hoping he could make good on his promise to Serena.

"Yes Ash! When I saw Pikachu take off to your room I figured you two must be waking up so I asked the cook to start making something for you two, I'm sure your both starving!" The nurse said with a big smile. "He just brought it out so feel free to dish up!"

"Thanks Nurse Joy!" Ash said as he turned back towards Fennekin before he felt a tug on his sleep pants. "Ash can we go see Serena now please?!" An excited Bonnie asked him.

Normally Ash would have let her run right down the hallway and crash through the door to see Serena, but given the performers current emotional state he didn't want just send Bonnie in without making sure Serena was ready for it.

Luckily for Ash, Amanda picked up on what he was thinking and stepped in. "Bonnie why don't we let Ash get Serena breakfast first?" the doctor said causing the little girl to get a confused look on her face.

"But why?" the young blonde asked. "I just wanna see her! I was so worried about her, I have so many questions I wanna asked her!" The blonde said with a pout on her face.

"Bonnie Serena went through a lot last night." Clemont said trying to help. "She might not be ready to talk about it yet." the gym leader said. "You could really hurt her if you go in there and bombard her with questions like you did to Ash a couple minutes ago."

"I don't wanna hurt her..." a now sad Bonnie said as she looked towards the floor in guilt. She then felt a hand on her shoulder- Ash's. "Don't worry Bonnie as soon as Serena is up for it I promise you'll be the first one she sees okay?" Ash said as he gave her a toothy grin. "In the meantime Fletchinder could use a good brushing on its wings. It was a big hero last night and could use a reward what do you say?"

"Okay you can count on me!" as she ran over to the bird pokemon with a brush and began brushing it wings drawing a happy chirp from it. "Alright then as soon as we're done eating Amanda can you come check out Serena for me?" he said now turning his attention to the doctor.

"Of course Ash I'd be happy to, just let us know when your ready ok?" Amanda said as she went over with Clemont to talk to Nurse Joy some more.

_"One more thing" _Ash thought to himself as he walked over to the window towards Fennekin and Pancham. "Hey you two" the trainer said causing the two pokemon to turn around and get a look of surprise on their faces.

"I know you two are probably worried sick about Serena." Ash said drawing a sad look from her pokemon. "But don't worry she's going to be just fine." the trainer said as a look of joy and relief washed over both their faces. "I'm about to bring her breakfast, why don't you two come with me I'm sure she'd love to see you both and it would cheer up a lot." he said with a grin.

"Fen!" the fox pokemon didn't need anymore of an invitation and happily leaped onto Ash's shoulder. Pancham also gave a cheer of approval and hopped down from the window and stood next to Ash. "Alright then let's go!" he said with a cheer as he walked over to the cafeteria and filled a large tray with a massive amount of food for him and Serena. Considering neither of them had eaten since lunch the day before Ash figured he shouldn't hold back. With Fennekin on his shoulder and Pancham in toe, the three walked back down the hall with their feast to Serena...


	15. Chapter 15 Ash's luck

**Writer's Note: Hey everyone sorry for the long wait! Got swamped at work all of sudden and was unable to write for a little bit. Hoping to get back into the swing here a things die down some. Anyways thanks again for sticking this out with and I appreciate all the reviews and follows/favs!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. All Characters are the property of Nintendo, and this is a fanfiction purely made for fun and non-profit.**

Chapter 15

"Ash's "luck" "

Pikachu turned its attention from Serena's hug towards the door as its ears picked up the sound of someone approaching the door from the hallway.

"What's wrong Pikachu?" Serena asked with a worried look on her face. It was then she realized in horror that Ash didn't lock the door behind him when he went to get food.

_"what if its Team Flare?!" _The performer panicked in her mind as the door handle was opened. Before Serena could even do anything a small yellow fox had leaped into her lap and was nuzzling her with all the affection it could muster.

"Hahahahaha! Fennekin stop that tickles!" the honey blonde laughed as the fox continued to hug and lick her face. "Oh Fenneken I missed you too!" Serena said as she was finally able to pull the fox from her face and give a big hug.

It was then she felt another set of hands grabbing her arm and she looked over to see Pancham there with a big grin on its face as well. "Pancham ohhh I missed you too" she said as she brought the small bear in for a hug of its own.

"I figured you guys would cheer each other up." a voice said from the doorway causing Serena to look up and a get a big smile on her face.

Standing in the doorway with a tray full of food was none other than Ash. "Sorry it took so long" he said as he closed the door behind him and walked over to the bed and sat the tray down in front of Serena before taking a seat next to her. "I should have figured everyone was gonna wanna grill me after last night" he said with a chuckle.

"That's okay I guess we should have figured as much" Serena said with a giggle of her own as she petted Fennekin. "Thanks for doing that for me Ash, I'm sure it wasn't easy." She said to him with a sweet smile and blush.

"Hey its no problem anything to help you feel better." Ash said as he leaned over to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips. Pikachu just smiled at the two while Fennekin got a look of complete shock on its face.

Serena noticed this and immediately turned to the fox pokemon with big grin on her face. "Oh my gosh Fennekin I didn't get to tell you yet, Ash is my boyfriend now!" the honey blonde said with a squeal causing Fennekin to jump and down on the bed in joy. Serena had told Fennekin so many times how much she loved Ash and the small pokemon was thrilled that her dreams of being with Ash finally came true.

Turning her attention to the tray of food Serena smiled brightly at Ash. "You certainly got a lot of foommmph!" she couldn't even finish her sentence as Ash had skillfully placed a bite of french toast into her mouth.

"You gotta get your strength back." Ash said with a warm smile as he placed another bite into her mouth gently. Serena couldn't figure out what was better at that very moment, the incredible taste of the french toast or that Ash was feeding her. She could died a happy woman right there but then realized that there would be no more Ash as a result and put that thought away.

After about twenty minutes Ash and Serena had eaten all the food on the tray. They playfully took turns feeding each other and kissing between bites to really make the mood romantic. Every once and a while the pokemon would giggle at them causing the two to blush at each other but never apologize for it.

"That was delicious Ash, thank you so much." Serena said with a hug as she wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace.

Ash happily accepted the hug. He loved Serena's hugs and would never grow tired of them, but at the same time it also reminded him of Serena's delicate emotional state.

_"I promise I'll never leave your side Serena" _he silently vowed as he hugged his girlfriend. The mood swings and fear would be with her for a while, but Ash promised himself that he would do everything he could to make her feel completely safe again no matter how long it took.

"Okay you think your up for seeing Amanda now?" Ash said gently as he rubbed her back. He could already feel her mood drop by asking the question.

"Serena please do it for me?" Ash asked her as nicely as he could. "I know it brings back the bad of last night, but Amanda wants to help you. And I want to make sure your okay alright?"

Serena looked at Ash and saw the look of sincerity on his face and smiled at him. This may have been the first time she could remember that he asked her to do something for him. "Alright" she said with a defeated smile as her boyfriend thanked her with kiss on the forehead.

"Alright then lets get you a fresh change of clothes shall we?" Ash said he walked over to the hooks on the wall and retrieved her backpack. He walked back down and sat in front her on the bed with the backpack in front of him.

"Okay we're taking it easy today and its a beautiful day outside so why don't we see if you have something light and comfortable to wear in here?" he said as he began to open her backpack.

"Since when did you become so in tune with what to wear?" Serena said with a bright smile on her face. "Well hehehe I may have been paying some attention to the things you say the times you went shopping." Ash said as he stopped what he was doing and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Well then show me what you've learned then Ash" Serena said with a giggle. "No problem!" Ash said with a huge grin as shoved his hand into Serena"s backpack and pulled out the first piece of clothing he touched. "I got a good feeling about this one" Ash said as he pulled the piece of the clothing for him and Serena to see.

The next few seconds could be described for Ash in two words: shock and embarrassment. In his hand was a pair of Serena's panties. And its wasn't just any regular pair, it was a very sexy pair. Colored blue matching Serena's eyes with a beautiful lace trim around them.

"Aaaaaaa! jeez! I'm so sorry Serena!" Ash said red as a tomato as he slapped his free hand covering his eyes and dropped the panties down in front of Serena like they were burning his hand.

Completely flustered Ash tried to undo his mistake by quickly grabbing something else from the backpack. He quickly reached in pulled out none other than the matching bra.

"Oh my gosh! S-sorry!" Ash said again as he pulled his shirt over his head in complete embarrassment. If Serena hadn't been sitting right in front of him she wouldn't have believed Ash's "luck". She was half expecting to die of embarrassment herself, but some reason she wasn't even the slightest bit uncomfortable. Maybe it had something to with the fact it was Ash who saw them.

Ash meanwhile was a total disaster. A million thoughts were going through his mind right now and none of them were very clean. First he mentally pictured Serena in the lingerie which led him to mentally slap himself, then he wondered if she ever wore the lingerie before or was saving it for something special. He was almost certain his mother would slap him for his thoughts right about now.

Ash just sat there until he felt a pair of hands pull his shirt down. "Relax Ash" Serena said calmly surprising him. "It's just some underwear its not a big deal."

"B-but!" Ash tried to reply but Serena quickly shushed him. "You've seen me in bikini before right Ash?" she calmly asked him like this was normal or something. "It's pretty much the same thing and covers the same amount of skin, you have nothing to be embarrassed about." she said sweetly drawing a look of shock and confusion from Ash.

He wanted to argue that while they may have a covered the same amount of skin, the lingerie that laid on the bed sent a far different message than a bikini would. Sure Serena looked good in her bikini to him, but to see her in this would be a entirely different situation.

"Uh-um okay Serena whatever you say." Ash said flustered as he was finally able to pull an article of clothing out her backpack that wasn't lingerie.

"Here we go these look comfortable." Ash said as he presented her with a yellow t-shirt with a small letter V on the upper left of the shirt and a matching pair of shorts. "what do you think Serena?"

Seeing as her boyfriend was still a mess from the "panties" incident, Serena decided to drop it and put that in her back pocket for later. "Its looks perfect sweetie thank you" she said as kissed him on the cheek. "I'll change quick before you get Amanda." she said as she moved to get out of the bed.

She was able to stand and started walking gingerly towards the bathroom. She was about halfway there when her legs buckled under her and she began to fall. "Ahhhh!" she said as she fell.

Luckily Ash was standing near her as she fell and was able to dive underneath her and she fell onto him instead of the floor. "Are you okay Serena?" he asked as he held her tight in his arms.

"Yeah.." she said sadly. "I guess my legs are still not better yet." the honey blonde said as thoughts of her being stuck in a wheelchair again began to flood her mind.

Ash sensing her distress quickly scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the bathroom. "Don't worry Serena its only been a one night and it was short one at that." he said as he gave her a toothy grin. "Besides your already able to walk, even if its not very far yet so keep at it."

"Your right, I guess I was I being a little over dramatic." she said with a giggle. "But thanks for helping me feel better." Serena said as she leaned up and kissed Ash on the cheek.

"Anytime." Ash responded as he set her down on a couch in the bathroom and walked back towards the door. "I'll be out here while you get changed, if you need anything just give me a yell okay?"

"Okay" Serena said as Ash closed the door behind him. As she began changing into the clothes Ash picked for her a thought entered her mind. _"I think I'm gonna have some fun at Ash's expense tonight." _she giggled as she thought to the lingerie still laying on the bed...


End file.
